Rachael Garcia Thompson, who has been serving as Executive Director of the Dabney S. Lancaster Community College Educational Foundation and the Director of Institutional Advancement since 2014, will be moving into a new position at the College at the end of April.
Thompson will become the head of the Business Program at DSLCC, replacing Ralph Sass, who retired at the end of the 2019 academic year.
“I am absolutely thrilled to have Ms. Thompson join the DSLCC faculty as Program Head for Business,” said Dr. Ben Worth, Vice President of Academic Affairs. “She has an extraordinary background in national sales and marketing through her work with the Greenbrier and the Homestead. Her leadership with the DSLCC Educational Foundation means she knows our students well. Ms. Thompson has also served as the President of the Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Board; she knows and understands the local business community. I look forward to working with her to expand educational opportunities to students in business administration, management, and entrepreneurship.”
The DSLCC Business program offers associate degrees in both Business Administration and Business Management, as well as career training certificates in business. In addition to her duties with the Educational Foundation, Thompson has been serving as an adjunct instructor, teaching “Principles of Marketing” and “Communications in Management” for the past couple of semesters, and has served as interim director for the Spring 2020 semester. As head of the Business Program, Thompson will continue to teach, as well as provide oversight for the program, advise and recruit business students, and interface with the regional business community to provide opportunities for DSLCC students.
“We wish the best for Rachael Thompson as she moves into her new position as Head of DSLCC’s Business Program,” said longtime DSLCC Educational Foundation Board member Donna Vaughn, who is a past president of the board as well as co-chair of the Scholarship Committee. “Rachael has been an extraordinary advocate for the DSLCC Educational Foundation in her position as Executive Director. Under her leadership she has expanded and strengthened friendships and funding resources which support both our scholarship program and our mission to serve the needs of the college and the service area. She has moved visionary concepts into reality, such as the Dabney Promise Program and the Lancaster Society for Planned Giving. Rachael’s outstanding communication efforts, efficiency, accounting and financial skills, and her exceptional gift for cooperation and teamwork have secured the future of the Foundation.”
“On behalf of the DSLCC Educational Foundation, we want to thank Rachael for her years of service to the mission of our foundation,” added Michelle Crook, current board chair. “Her leadership guided our foundation during its capital campaign. In addition, she advanced our scholarship process by migrating our applications from paper format to an online format. We are grateful that during her tenure she was instrumental in Building Futures, Building Lives, and Building Hope.”
Thompson is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Richmond, where she earned a Bachelors Degree in Political Science, and James Madison University, where she earned a Master of Business Administration and was named the outstanding graduate of her cohort. A native of Covington, she was a sales manager and Director of Regional Accounts for the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, and later, Director of National Sales at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV.
While director of the DSLCC Educational Foundation, she successfully led the first major gifts campaign in nearly 20 years, surpassing the $3.5 million goal, and achieving over $4 million in donations. Under her leadership, the Foundation increased scholarship applications by 100%; hosted the annual Donor Scholar Reception, recognizing more than 350 donors and scholars; steadily grew the endowment by more than $1.5 million; launched the first strategic, integrated marketing plan for the College; implemented online scholarship applications; hosted three Bubbles, Bands and Brunch events, raising an average of $30,000 each time; provided College support in excess of $500,000 in 2017 alone, up from $25,000 annually.
"I am truly thankful for being given the opportunity to lead this Foundation, which has an incredibly supportive Board and staff and the most loyal and steadfast donors. I cannot fully express how much I appreciate their continued generosity and encouragement," said Thompson. "I will continue to share in and promote the Foundation's mission of student success, Building Futures, Building Lives, and Building Hope, as I transition to a more student-centered role at the College. "
She continued, "I look forward to honoring the incredible foundation that Professor Sass has built and working to further develop the DSLCC business program to ensure that we meet the evolving and diverse business needs of our community."
Thompson is a Past President of the Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Board. She and her husband, Bryan, have three children and reside in the city of Covington.
A search for the new DSLCC Educational Foundation Director is currently underway. For more information regarding the Foundation or to make a gift, call (540) 863-2835 or visit online at www.dslcc.edu/giving.
For more information or to enroll in the DSLCC business program, please contact Thompson at (540) 863-2837 or via email at rthompson@dslcc.edu.