Dr. Norma Thomas
Co-Founder
Dr. Thomas received her bachelor’s degree in social work from Penn. State University. She then went on to obtain her master’s degree in social work from Temple University’s School of Social Administration and her doctorate degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Thomas began as the MSW Program Director at California University of Pennsylvania in the fall of 2007 and retired in January 2017. She was promoted to full professor in 2014. she worked for the Widener University Center for Social Work Education where she achieved tenure as an Associate Professor, also holding positions as Assistant Director and Baccalaureate Program Director. She worked from 1975-1984 for the Delaware County Office on Services for the Aging and from 1984-1992 for the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging. In addition, she was the co-founder and President of the Center on Ethnic & Minority Aging, Inc., Philadelphia, PA from 1995-2008. She is currently an online instructor for the Center for Social Work Education, Widener University since 2017.
She is the recipient of many community service awards including: 2021, Outstanding Fellow, Pennsylvania State University-Fayette County Campus, 2016 Dr. Caryl Sheffield Award for Excellence, California University of Pa., 2015 Spirit of CARIE Award-Philadelphia, Pa., 2010 Woman of Distinction Award, Southwest Women’s Ministry of the Pa. Baptist State Convention; 2008 Hobart C. Jackson Award for service to ethnic & minority elders in the Philadelphia region; 2007 Second Place Outstanding President Award at the North Atlantic Regional Conference of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.; The 2006 Senior Service Excellence Award presented by the Crozer Keystone Health System, Chester, Pa.; 2005 Social Worker of the Year Award, National Association of Social Workers, Philadelphia, Pa. 2004 Second Place Good Citizen Award, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., North Atlantic Regional Conference: 2004 Philip E. Coleman Award for Distinguished Service to Project Prepare, Widener University; 2004 Temple University General Alumni Association Certificate of Honor; 2004 Institute of Geriatric Social Work-Boston University, First Career Achievement Award; 2004 National Association of Black Social Workers Widener University Chapter Founder’s Award; 2003 Chester Assembly No. 30 Order of the Golden Circle Community Service Award; 2002 YWCA Chester, Pa. Community Hero Award; 2000 Who's Who Among America's Teachers recognition; 2000 Pennsylvania Brandywine Division National Association of Social Workers Social Worker of the Year Award and 2000 Outstanding Scholar Award, Widener University School of Human Service Professions. In 2007, Dr. Thomas was designated as an honorary “Life-Time Advisor” to Senior Community Services, Delaware County, Pa. in recognition of her years of service to that organization.
She currently serves on the Board for the East End United Community Center, Uniontown, Pa.; the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging; is on the Advisory Board for Penn. State University-Eberly Campus Fayette County, Pa.; Secretary of the U. S. Board of Daraja Academy, based in Laikipia County, Kenya; member of the Thomas Family Reunion Committee; member of the National Association of Black Social Workers, Philadelphia Chapter; member of the National Association of Social Workers; Co-founder of Story Joy, Inc. and Generational Archives Podcast and curator of the African American History and Cultural Center of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. She is a licensed clinical social worker in the State of Pennsylvania (LCSW) and is a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW).
ABOUT
StoryJoy, Inc. (established 2019) roots itself ever in community and in generational interconnectedness. The originators of the concepts of age futurism, we believe deeply in the profound telling of our stories, how a story can shape reality, uncover the past, clarify the present, and build the future. Our specific expertise is working with members of historically and systemically marginalized communities to manifest our flourishing. We are the stars of our peoples, their wildest imaginings made real. We work with others to attune to that possibility and promise. We launched, Generational Archives, the podcast, to explore our approaches to generational and genealogical research and share the investigative methods (and our stories) with others. StoryJoy also manages the Esperimento Sul Respiro residency (established October 2023) with sites of refuge and restoration for Peoples of the Global Majority in Como and Lucca, Italy. We also established the Fayette County African American History and Cultural Center in Uniontown, PA (June 2024).
Dr. Raina J. LeÓN
Co-Founder
Raina J. León, PhD is Black, Afro-Boricua, and from Philadelphia (Lenni Lenape ancestral lands). She is a mother, daughter, sister, madrina, comadre, partner, poet, writer, and teacher educator. She believes in collective action and community work, the profound power of holding space for the telling of our stories, and the liberatory practice of humanizing education. She seeks out communities of care and craft and is a member of the Carolina African American Writers Collective, Cave Canem, CantoMundo, Macondo. She is the author of black god mother this body, Canticle of Idols, Boogeyman Dawn, sombra : (dis)locate, and the chapbooks, profeta without refuge and Areyto to Atabey: Essays on the Mother(ing) Self. She publishes across forms in visual art, poetry, nonfiction, fiction, and scholarly work. She has received fellowships and residencies with the Obsidian Foundation, Community of Writers, Montana Artists Refuge, Macdowell, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Vermont Studio Center, the Tyrone Guthrie Center in Annamaghkerrig, Ireland and Ragdale, among others. She is a founding editor of The Acentos Review, an online quarterly, international journal devoted to the promotion and publication of Latinx arts. She is a recipient of a National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Grant. She recently retired early as a full professor of education at Saint Mary’s College of California, only the third Black person (all Black women) and the first Afro-Latina to achieve that rank there. She is a professor emerita at that university, the first Black woman and the first Afro-Latina. She supports poets and writers at the Stonecoast MFA at the University of Southern Maine. She is additionally a digital archivist, emerging visual artist, writing coach, and curriculum developer.