Professional Bio: A Unicorn in Geek’s Clothing

Tonya Thomas is an education technology, instructional design, and multimedia communications leader with nearly 25 years of experience in healthcare, information systems, training and human performance support, productivity consulting, public speaking, group facilitation, web development, PR and corporate communications, social media, project management, leadership development, data management, business management consulting, and non-profit operations management.

In addition to being principal, lead consultant, and Chief Effectiveness Officer here at EduTechDiva Enterprises, LLC, her additional roles include:

• Curriculum Dev Consultant, Office of Learning & Teaching, WSU School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
• Professor, Communications, WSU College of Fine, Performing, and Communication Arts
• Author/developer, Personal Systems Optimization Framework
• Ops Manager, DAG Media Productions LLC, and band manager, Groove Fellowship

Previously, she served as Director, Systems Innovation, TechTown Detroit; Director, Educational Technology & Innovation (ET+I), The College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI; and as instructional design lead, Quality Matters Coordinator, and project manager with the Academic Technologies Group at Oakland Community College, where she was responsible for establishing quality course development standards, review and approval processes, and mandatory faculty training required for the institution to obtain its HLC accreditation. Before that, she served as Director, Staff Learning & Development with Teach For America, where her chief charge was to oversee the effort to transform classroom training to web-based learning and performance support resources. She has also held education leadership roles with UnitedHealth Group, The University of Michigan, Trinity Health, and New Horizons Computer Learning Centers.

She earned a BS in Instructional Design and Technology from Walden University, graduating Magna Cum Laude and member of both the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society and Dean’s Student Advisory Council; obtained with distinction a Master’s in Education Technology from the University of Michigan; and has also completed undergraduate pre-med coursework in psychology and nursing at Wayne State University, Detroit. During her career, she has held numerous certifications, including MCP, MCT, and CIW. She is currently a certified project manager, a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and has completed additional education in Senn-Delaney, DiSC and StrengthsFinder productivity frameworks.

She is an award-winning graphic artist, and maintains affiliation with several professional education and technology organizations, including the Ann Arbor ATD; the Macomb Community College IT Advisory Board; Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MCWT) Foundation; and the UM Women of Color Task Force. She has developed and helped launch websites and corporate identities for several client startups, and continues to share her educational, creative and technical expertise through active community volunteerism, supporting local school districts, civic groups, and other mission-based nonprofits.

In her downtime, she enjoys music, singing, photography, painting, theater, interior decorating, spending time with her family, traveling, and being anywhere near open water. She lives in Macomb County, MI, with her ‘mini-panther,’ and several Mac and iOS devices.