Leadership and the Enduring Strength of a Woman

2143 Astor Street,Orange Park FL 32073

21 March, 2023

Description

About the Speaker Please join us in welcoming the former Mayor of the Town of Orange Park and the present President and CEO of Impact Clay, Connie Thomas! Connie will share with ABWA members, the great strength that women bring to the leadership table along with its challenges. You don't want to miss it! Connie was raised in Clay County and is a 1979 graduate of Orange Park High School.  She received a BA from Newberry College and a Master’s in Clinical Social Work from the University of Georgia.  She is a Board-certified Licensed Clinical Social Worker and presently has a private practice at Grace House Counselling Center. While residing in Georgia in 2006, Connie engaged with her community to spearhead a response to a severe environmental crisis that impacted her family and her neighbors.  With broad community support, she led the effort to create a local Environmental Task Force to address toxic substances emitting from a wastewater treatment plant. She ultimately spoke before the Georgia Senate Oversight Committee and was appointed to a federal panel through the Centers for Disease Control (ATSDR), with which she worked to identify ways to mitigate toxic substance emergencies across our nation. Connie returned to Clay County in 2010, and in 2014 she and her husband Tony Steve moved into Orange Park – drawn there like many others because of the beautiful live oaks and the surrounding waterways. Her passion for community quickly found a voice as a founding member of Citizens for a Greater Orange Park – a group seeking to promote a dynamic and inclusive community vision for the Town.  This community activation led her to be sworn in as Councilwoman to serve on the Orange Park Town Council in May 2016 and later unanimously elected Mayor by her fellow councilmen in 2019. In 2020, Connie led the way to create the College Drive Initiative due to the synergy of the many helping organizations settling there. Through the CDI the citizens were engaged in Deliberative Dialogue where many action steps were brought to light resulting in the present work on the Pond to Park Project. In late 2022, Connie accepted the position to become President and CEO of Impact Clay to further their mission in the community for collaboration among the four community sectors – business, faith-based organizations, non-profits, and government.  She sees this work as vital as the County continues to grow and community services need to be expanded among helping organizations. Connie reports that she has never “worked” a day in her life since 1989 and does not take her journey in life for granted.  The goal has always been to leave this world a little better than she found it.