Isaiah Thomas

Isaiah Thomas Sr. is a Democratic politician and At-Large member of Philadelphia City Council. He was born to a family of 10 children from the East Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia. He attended Frankford High School, Pennsylvania State University and Lincoln University. He was first elected to an At-Large seat on Philadelphia City Council in 2019. Personal life Thomas is one of 10 children born to parents Barry, an educator and coach and Veronica, president of the deaconess board of Triumph Baptist Church. He grew up in Philadelphia and attended Frankford High School. During his freshman year in high school he started working for the Philadelphia Freedom Schools program during the summer. He graduated from Penn State in 2007 with a degree in sociology and social behavior and obtained a master's in education from Lincoln University. He worked part time in the office of State Representative Tony Payton between 2009 and 2010. He also worked as a coach and Associate Dean of Students at Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter and became executive director of Philadelphia Freedom Schools. From 2012 to 2015 he was an adjunct professor in the Human Studies department at Lincoln University. In 2015 he started the Thomas and Woods Foundation with District 1199C Vice President Chris Woods. From July 2015 to 2018 he worked as the director of community affairs in the Philadelphia City Controller's office under Alan Butkovitz. Political career While working at Philadelphia Freedom Schools, Thomas witnessed the negative effects of education cuts by former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett and credited this experience as one of the reasons he became politically involved. His first job in politics was working as a Legislative Assistant for former State Representative Tony Payton. He was mentored by Tony Payton, Payton's chief of staff Jorge Santana, 1199C president Henry Nicholas and State Representative Isabella Fitzgerald. In 2011 at age 26, Thomas ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for City Council At-Large. He placed 8th in a field of 14 candidates, winning 31,515 votes.