Deborah Thomas, 2020.

Deborah Thomas is an Australian magazine editor and businesswoman.

Career

Deborah Thomas' career in magazine publishing started at Cleo magazine as beauty and lifestyle editor in 1987. She became deputy editor at Cleo in 1990, and was editor at Mode in 1992 (now Harper's Bazaar) followed by Elle magazine in 1994, until she took over the editorship at Cleo from 1997 to 1999.[1]

Following Cleo, Thomas became editor-in-chief of The Australian Women's Weekly in 1999 and was awarded Magazine of the Year as well as Editor of the Year in 2002. After nearly 10 years at The Weekly, Thomas became the director of media, public affairs & brand development at Bauer Media. She was also executive director of the Bangkok Post Media /ACP joint venture in Thailand.[2]

Thomas was appointed to the Council of the National Library of Australia (NLA) in 2006 for three three-year terms, taking on the role of deputy chair from 2013-2016. She was chair of the NLA Governance Committee as well as a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.[citation needed]

In April 2015, she was appointed as chief executive officer of Ardent Leisure.[3][4] A few months after an accident that killed four people on the Thunder River Rapids Ride at Dreamworld, in 2017 Thomas resigned from her position as CEO of Ardent Leisure, and later left the company.[5][6]

Thomas was appointed in her current[when?] role as CEO of national children's cancer charity, Camp Quality in January 2020.[7]

Thomas was a non-executive director of the federal government's National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre. She has been involved in not-for-profit organisations such as the Royal Hospital for Women Foundation, Father Chris Riley's Youth Off The Streets and is a founding patron of the Taronga Conservation Foundation and was chair of the Ensemble Theatre Foundation.[8]

In 2012, Thomas was elected to local government as a councillor for the Municipality of Woollahra, completing her five-year term in August 2017.[9][10]

Thomas is a member of Chief Executive Women, and she founded "Gold Week" for the Sydney Children's Hospital, the signature fundraising event for the hospital with a telethon held annually.[11]

Selected publications

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2022)

References

  1. ^ Jackson, Sally. "Ten questions for Deborah Thomas". The Australian. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Deborah Thomas". ICMI Speakers. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  3. ^ Burke, Liz (27 October 2016). "Dreamworld boss in line for $800k bonus". NewsComAu. News Limited. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  4. ^ Daniel, Sue; MacMillan, Jade (27 October 2016). "Dreamworld under fire for failing to contact victims' families directly". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Dreamworld parent company boss to step down". ABC News. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Deborah Thomas steps down as Ardent Leisure CEO months after Dreamworld deaths". The Guardian. Australian Associated Press. 26 April 2017. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Deborah Thomas' latest bio leaves off the theme parks". Australian Financial Review. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Camp Quality Keeps Kids Laughing in a Difficult Year". anziif.com. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  9. ^ "From lipstick to Dreamworld: The unlikely rise of Ardent Leisure CEO Deborah Thomas". Australian Financial Review. 1 November 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  10. ^ "Deborah Thomas". www.platinumspeakers.com.au. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  11. ^ "Gold Telethon Raises Over $6 Million". Nine for Brands. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
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