# Author Bios — Paul D. Thomas, SPHR

Three versions for different placements. Use as-is or adapt for tone. The 75-word and 150-word versions are the workhorses for podcast bookers, conference programs, and feature articles.

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## Short bio (≈75 words)

Paul D. Thomas, SPHR, is the author of *The African American Professional's Green Book*. A human resources executive with more than three decades of progressive experience — including service as Chief Human Resources Officer at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette — he founded a consulting practice focused on executive strategy, leadership coaching, and future-ready workforce transformation. He holds Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessor credentials and writes about navigating bias, building leverage, and advancing careers under political and institutional pressure.

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## Standard bio (≈150 words)

Paul D. Thomas, SPHR, is a human resources executive and author with more than thirty years of progressive leadership experience across higher education, government, and private industry. He served as Chief Human Resources Officer at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he led workforce strategy for several thousand employees, restructured compensation systems, and built inclusive talent practices into institutions that had operated on informal networks for generations.

When the political environment shifted after 2023, Thomas was among the senior Black professionals affected by the dismantling of DEI infrastructure across public institutions. *The African American Professional's Green Book* was written from inside that experience — a field manual for navigating workplaces shaped by bias and political hostility with risk awareness, documentation, leverage, and dignity. He now leads a consulting practice serving executives across higher education, healthcare, and the public and private sectors, and holds Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessor credentials.

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## Long bio (≈300 words, for keynotes and feature pieces)

Paul D. Thomas, SPHR, is a human resources executive, strategist, and author whose career spans more than three decades of progressive leadership across higher education, government, and private industry. He has served in senior HR roles at complex institutions in the American South, most recently as Chief Human Resources Officer at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette — where he was responsible for workforce strategy across several thousand employees, led significant compensation restructuring, and embedded inclusive talent practices into systems that had operated on informal networks and subjective criteria for generations.

When the political ground shifted after 2023, Thomas was among the senior Black professionals impacted by the dismantling of DEI infrastructure across public institutions. He experienced firsthand what his book documents: the shift in evaluation from outcomes to "fit," the narrowing of scope without performance rationale, the vague feedback that could not be translated into criteria.

*The African American Professional's Green Book: A Guide to Advancing in Workplaces Shaped by Bias and Political Hostility* (2025) was written from inside that experience. Drawing its title from Victor Hugo Green's original Negro Motorist Green Book of 1936, the book offers a complete career operating system for hostile climates — including the proprietary Workplace Hostility Index (WHI), the Visibility ROI Map, and the Evidence Operating System. Its central principle: *clarity beats charisma*.

Thomas is the founder and principal of a management consulting practice specializing in executive strategy, leadership coaching, and future-ready workforce transformation. He works with leaders across higher education, healthcare, the public sector, and private industry navigating disruption and preparing for the workforce realities ahead. He holds Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessor credentials in addition to his SPHR certification, and is available for keynote presentations, executive coaching engagements, and organizational consulting.

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## Tagline / one-liner

A 30-year HR executive who experienced what he writes about — and turned the experience into a field manual for the professionals coming behind him.