Dawn Thomas

CNA is for folks who like analysis – who like to read, who like to learn.

Dawn Thomas joined CNA in 2004 as a research analyst with CNA Safety & Security where she has worked extensively on training and exercise initiatives related to homeland security and disaster response.

Her work includes management of a multi-year initiative undertaken by a major U.S. city to plan for a category 5 hurricane and multiple IED attacks (performing risk-based and capability assessments in order to address capability and planning gaps). She has also supported and facilitated multiple state exercises for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (for which she wrote five After Action Reports – AAR’s – and supported seven others);

She had the evaluation lead for the Guam venue of the Department of Homeland Security’s TOPOFF 4 exercise (writing the onsite emergency management section of the AAR); and was responsibile for field components of the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Level Exercise in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR.

Thomas provided evaluation support to the Department of Homeland Security National Security Special Events (NSSE) for the 2008 Republican National Convention, and to the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency for the 2009 Presidential Inauguration exercise series, She also supported the FEMA-led effort to plan for the evacuation of 12 coastal Louisiana parishes with an emphasis on special needs citizens in at-risk facilities (hospitals, nursing homes, etc) and in the general populations.

She also conducted a study of successful “bench-to-bed” endeavors (how science gets translated from the lab to the patient) and a study of what tools and data are available to the Type 1 Diabetes community, summarized in a white paper on patient registries/databases that was widely circulated as a device to frame discussions;

Prior to joining CNA, Thomas worked for the wireless service provider, OmniSky, in Jerusalem, Israel, and, from 1998-1999 was a teaching assistant at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University (for the classes: Introduction to Israeli Politics, and International Terrorism).

From 1995-1996 she was assistant to the director of the American Jewish Congress in Washington, DC and prior to that was a research assistant at the DC-based Institute for Policy Study.

Thomas received an MA in Israeli Politics and Society from Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, and received her B.S. in political science from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.  (To view video of Thomas discussing her work at CNA click here.)