Menu
Jessica L. Thompson
(she/her/hers)
Consultant
The Authoress of Extraordinarily Amazing Experiences, Dynamic, Enchanting, Loving Heart, Unforgettable and Splendiferous.
Understanding the human experience leads to stronger cultural humility and Jessica Thompson, M.Sc.Ed., has made the pursuit of that knowledge the core of her career. An IDEA Consultant, thought partner and lecturer with over a decade of experience working with organizations to support their awareness of human capacity, Jessica thrives on fostering deeper understandings between individuals and collectives. By prompting those she works with to be intentional, considerate, and welcoming of different cultural viewpoints and narratives, her clients have enjoyed stronger and more inclusive workplaces. She partners with organizations on their assessment and strategy journeys and creates and facilitates learning pathways and content through varied modalities that engage adult learners on their journey of intercultural competency, unconscious bias and inclusive leadership, vulnerability and empathy normalization and more. Her secret tool? Her years of service have been rooted in promoting awareness – of self, others and cultures, which allows for multicultural harmony and equity in access to opportunity. Her research and studies focus on relationship building, which is critical to cultural competence, and leverages the pillars of understanding and embracing each other’s attitudes and expectations. She's found that when we do so, we’re able to capitalize on the strength of one another’s knowledge and lived experiences.
What’s one thing you love about yourself? Have you always?
I have always loved my eyes. They are honest beautiful brown eyes. Yet, beyond the beauty they present, I love how I see the world through these eyes. I believe in humanity and as a result, I see the beauty that humans possess.
Who were your role models growing up? How do you think that’s impacted your life now?
My grandfather (papa) was the founding pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Ann Arbor, MI. I aspired to be like him when I grew up. Not as a pastor, but as a great orator and lover of all people. Whenever I go before a mic, I ask myself how would papa show up in this moment? Although he is no longer alive, I carry a piece of him with me every single day.
What stops you from vocalizing your needs?
The ingrained belief that a strong black woman is not supposed to need help. As a mom of a woman child, I struggle to dismantle and disrupt this way of thinking always. We are blessed to be on this earth with so many others; why should we limit the ways in which we connect, engage, and lean on people?