Introducing Jess Thomas
Newly appointed CEO for St Mary’s Community Centre
We welcome Jess to her role in early August
Jess is an experienced senior leader with over 15 years’ experience working across the charity, community development, sustainability and campaigning sectors. She joins St Mary’s Community Centre from her role as Operations Director at the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre, where she co-led the £5 million place-based partnership focused on climate action through research and regional collaboration across South Yorkshire.
Prior to this, Jess worked at Co-operatives UK as Senior Programmes Manager, leading national and regional programmes focused on community economic development and local ownership. Her earlier career included senior roles within social change organisations including openDemocracy and Campaign Bootcamp, where she led organisational development, partnership working and programme delivery during periods of significant growth and change.
Jess has extensive experience building cross-sector partnerships, securing and managing complex funding programmes, and developing organisations that respond to social and economic challenges at both community and systems level. She joins St Mary’s with a strong commitment to community-led change and a vision to build on the centre’s long-standing role in supporting the people and neighbourhoods of Sheffield.
