L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Fall 2023

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Najmah Thomas, Ph.D., merges history, equity and policy

BY RACHEL ZEEVE

For Najmah Thomas, Ph.D. (P.P.A.’11), the intersection of history, equity, and policy has always been at the forefront of her career in public service, policy program evaluation, and academia. With over two decades of experience in government and beyond, Thomas is forging a path for future generations of practitioners. Thomas’ academic journey began at Richard Bland Community College, and she attended The College of William & Mary. There, a switch from a business major to public policy sparked her path to the University of Phoenix for a master’s in education and finally to the Wilder School and the Ph.D. program in Public Administration. Today, Thomas has a range of experience as a practitioner in local or regional governments, private foundations, and state government. “When I was working in my last public administration position with the Virginia Community College System and the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development, we researched the very thing that my Wilder School dissertation was on — out-of-school youth and connectivity to employee programs,” she said. “Having been an at-risk youth myself and having been a displaced worker, I had a unique experience. All of the programs under the Workforce Investment Board that I’ve managed I had actually gone through as a participant. Then, all of the programs that I evaluated as an academic, I’d actually managed as a professional.” Thomas’ passion stems from her background with the programs she evaluates today. “Part of the work that I’m doing now is determining whether these programs do what they’re supposed to do and finding out if they are implemented with the ‘four E’s’: equity, efficiency, effectiveness, and economy,” she said. As an associate professor at University of South Carolina Beaufort, Thomas leads research and courses in leadership development, public service program evaluation, African American studies, and more to prepare students to bring a social equity lens to policy issues. “There is something so encouraging about how this next generation considers their work,” said Thomas. “It’s a ‘glocal’ approach — there’s not only a really keen understanding about global connectivity but also a really strong commitment to making things happen right where they are.” Thomas’ advice for students is to use the past to inform policy today. “Use history as a guidepost, not as a beating stick — embrace it as one of the finest tools we have to help us understand how policy came to be.”

"History can shine a light on inequity, and then, once we have that information, we can then use it to craft programs that are more equitable and create the kind of world that we want to leave to the next generation."
-Najmah Thomas