Orion Associates’ Rebecca Thomley takes a servant leadership approach,
in every aspect of her life. BY ELIZABETH MILLARD
Leader
ProfiLe
Name: Rebecca
Hage Thomley
Title: CEO
Age: 50
First job: Rehabilitation
counselor, state of
Minnesota
Education: Bachelor’s,
Psychology and Criminal
Justice; Masters,
Psychology with a
rehabilitation emphasis;
Doctorate in Clinical
Psychology; Masters
in Organizational
Management; Masters in
Psychopharmacology.
Family: Married;
three sons
AS REBECCA THOMLEY waits for her beignet at New orleans’ famous Cafe du Monde, at first glance she might look like
one of the other tourists who’ve clustered here for an after dinner
sugar fix. But then there are the faint streaks of blue paint in her
hair, the patches of grime on her jeans, and when she begins talking about gutting a hurricane-swept church, it’s obvious she’s not
your everyday Ceo.
Thomley, a small group of employees, construction workers
and community members from Minnesota are in the Big easy
just before Thanksgiving to pitch in for Headwaters relief, an
organization that’s been rebuilding the city since Katrina. This
isn’t a one-off, feel-good volunteerism day, though; Headwaters
sprung from a disaster relief project helmed by Thomley, and
some Headwaters’ volunteers have traveled to Louisiana more
than a dozen times. They clear out houses and also work on fixing up community buildings including one that’s now used as a
mental health center.
“We just do what
needs to be done. As
long as people need
us, we’ll be here.”
—REBECCA THOMLEY
erment, respect and construction supplies. “There are so many
layers and complexity with what we’re doing in New orleans,”
she says. “it’s a great chance to show leadership, but also to bring
out the leadership qualities in others. it’s about service.”
indeed, if there’s one theme threading through Thomley’s
life, it’s service. Her mother started Meridian, a social service
agency that is now a part of the orion companies. When Thomley’s father retired—he’d run rehabilitation programs in central
Minnesota for the State of Minnesota—he joined her, and when
