Assistance League of St. Louis has named Dawn Thomas president for 2020-2021. In 2016, after a brief career as an attorney in West County and decades volunteering at her children’s schools, for community organizations, and on non-profit boards, Dawn joined Assistance League of St. Louis.

Dawn has assumed several Assistance League leadership positions in recent years, including Vice Chair of Outreach, Chair of Corporate and Foundation Support and as a Grant Writer. As President-Elect in 2019-2020, Dawn played a key role in supporting the launch of Assistance League’s Advisory Council. This group of six influential business leaders in St. Louis meet quarterly to advise and educate the Board on emerging trends in the community.

Dawn worked with the Assistance League board to establish a new program in 2020—Books from Friends, which provides thousands

of students in the region books through interactive book fairs and other activities. The program’s goal is to distribute 12,000 books to area students in the coming fiscal year. In collaboration with the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Books from Friends will distribute over 3,000 books this summer at a back-to-school expo. As a champion of this and other Assistance League initiatives, Thomas, in 2019, recorded over 1,200 hours of volunteer service.

“Dawn’s forward-thinking and hard work led to her election as president,” said outgoing President Jane Harbron. “Her strategic planning abilities, strong commitment and excellent people skills will help our organization continue to move forward in these unusual times to serve the many needs of the people of the St. Louis region.” Dawn is a resident of Town and Country, Missouri.