Rodney Thomas
Rodney Thomas is an executive advisor, leadership strategist, and organizational transformation expert who partners with CEOs, executive teams, boards, and mission-driven organizations to navigate complexity, strengthen leadership, and build organizations capable of lasting impact.
As Founder and President of CenterForward, Rodney helps organizations align strategy, people, culture, and systems to improve performance and achieve sustainable results. His expertise spans executive coaching, strategic planning, organizational development, human-centered design, and systems transformation. Whether facilitating executive retreats, coaching senior leaders, or guiding organizational redesign, Rodney is known for helping leaders move from complexity to clarity.
Throughout his career, Rodney has led transformational work across the nonprofit, education, philanthropy, public, and corporate sectors. He has served as Interim President and Vice President of National Programs at Surge Institute, Senior Associate at the National Equity Project, and held leadership roles with Fortune 500 companies including Accenture, Motorola, Unilever, and ABN AMRO.
Rodney began his career as a Chicago Public Schools teacher, where he was recognized as Teacher of the Year. Today, he partners with organizations nationwide to strengthen leadership, design high-performing systems, and create cultures rooted in accountability, collaboration, and innovation. He is also the author of Entry Planning for Equity-Focused Leaders, which debuted as the #1 New Release in Education Administration on Amazon.
Rodney believes that organizations create their greatest impact when people, purpose, and systems are intentionally aligned, and he is committed to helping leaders build organizations that thrive today while preparing for tomorrow.