Fast 15: Erin Thomas

Erin Thomas led public communications for Ronald McDonald House’s (RMH) $3.5 million capital campaign to build an 11-bedroom house in Fort Smith and got it done in two years. Her efforts led to record media attention for a campaign for the nonprofit, with 11 news companies participating. During the campaign, she hosted three fundraisers and three donor events and planned and publicized the grand opening event, with more than 100 in attendance.

“Getting to promote that and tell people why it mattered was fulfilling, as well as getting to see the support the people of Fort Smith gave us to fulfill the mission of Ronald McDonald House,” she said.

“Erin’s creative mind and spirit have brought so much to RMHC of Arkoma. Working with Erin excites me about the future of the organization and the community we serve. She’s only getting started,” said Leah Jones, president and CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkoma.

While teaching English to U.S. immigrants at the Ozark Literacy Council as an AmeriCorps member at the University of Arkansas, Thomas fell in love with nonprofit work.

“It’s a way to have a job but feel fulfilled in the work that I’m doing and directly serve the people in my community,” she said.

She credits her AmeriCorps boss, Patty Sullivan, with teaching her that nonprofits must operate like a business.

After graduating in 2019 with a cultural anthropology major and a public health minor, the Fayetteville native continued in nonprofit work, taking a job on Fayetteville’s Public Library’s community outreach team. In 2020, she joined RMH to manage volunteers and community outreach and moved to her current position in 2022.

Thomas is “passionate about healthcare,” and RMH has “shown me a new way of looking at health in a holistic way — that family matters when it comes to a child’s healing.”

Daily, she can see how her work impacts families staying at the hospital to be near their sick children, which helps her guard against burnout so common in her industry.

Thomas was in the Leadership Fort Smith of classes 2021 and 2022. She enjoys hiking, kayaking, canoeing and camping. She also loves to cook and is an advocate of yoga and wellness.