Forbes Profile: Jennifer Gray Thompson
Story by Forbes.
From the Editor
- Gray Thompson, a leader in the recent field of megafire disasters across the American West, is the CEO of After The Fire, a nonprofit organization supporting wildfire-affected communities.
- Thompson’s path to leadership took several turns. She was a high school dropout, a homeless teenager and a poverty-stricken single mom.
- Thompson self-funded her education, ultimately earning a master’s degree and then landing a job in Sonoma, California, during the wildfires of October 2017.
- The Sonoma job inspired Thompson to start After The Fire to help people as they recover and rebuild their lives after wildfires.
- Thompson is also the podcast host of “How to Disaster,” a show that amplifies best practices, survivor experiences, and mitigation measures to ensure safety.