Lynn Thompson
CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters Northwest
Lynn Thompson joined Big Sisters Columbia Northwest as CEO in 2003, after serving as President/CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas for nine years. Under Ms. Thompson's leadership, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas grew from serving 300 youths annually in one county to serving 1,681 youths in a three county area, becoming one of the largest Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies in the country. During her tenure, she served as a steering committee member of the Governor's Mentoring Initiative, delegate to President's Summit for America's Future in Philadelphia, chair of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America's Services to Girls Task Force and a board member of the Community Action Network after which the Vision Action Network (VAN) of Washington County is modeled. As public policy chair for the Texas Association of Big Brothers Big Sisters she led the successful effort to obtain state funding for mentoring programs.

Prior to Big Brothers Big Sisters, Ms. Thompson worked with violence against women for 17 years. During that time, she helped organize the first hearing on the Violence Against Women Act in the US House of Representatives, wrote amicus curiae statements for cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, various state supreme courts, and federal appellate courts and was instrumental in criminalizing marital rape in Texas. She was a board director and legislative chair of the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Ms. Thompson has served on many local, state and national boards of directors. She has edited and written chapters in numerous books on youth, families and politics. She has bachelor's degrees in social work and psychology from Pan America University and a master's degree in social work from the University of Texas. Beginning in college, she has been a Big Sister to five girls, including her two current Little Sisters, Jaqui and Zariah.