Jessica Yinka Thomas
Illustration by Margarita Babina
Meet local super-human, business professor, engineer and author of How Not to Save the World and How Not to Make Friends, Jessica Yinka Thomas:
What made you choose to study engineering?
I like a challenge, so in undergrad I studied mechanical engineering, art, design and psychology. My favorite project
at Stanford was designing a life-size set of foam building blocks so that kids could create their own worlds, then jump
on them.
I’ve had a passion for education ever since I can remember and decided that I would work for a toy company after I
graduated. I walked the aisles at Toys R Us, and selected a short list of companies I thought were doing innovative
work, then I cold called them and pitched myself. The first company I called on the top of my list, LeapFrog,
hired me.
LeapFrog was a start-up at the time and I was the second designer, employee #11. I helped grow the company to the
third largest toy company in the US. Along the way, we created dozens of innovative award-winning toys, in six
different languages that sold tens of millions of units around the world like the Twist & Shout; Shout Multiplication.
What compelled you to focus on sustainability in business?
I was born in Miami to a Nigerian economist and an American computer scientist, traveling back and forth between
the US, Nigeria and Senegal as I grew up. As long as I can remember, I’ve had a singular focus on making the world
a better place.
When I worked at LeapFrog, we were so focused on the social impact, creating new interactive and engaging ways to
teach kids about math, science and reading, but we didn’t think about the environmental impact of the millions of toys
we were producing.
Since then, I moved out to Durham to get an MBA at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and I’ve been studying
different strategies for reimagining and designing capitalism in a way that uses the power of business as an engine to
drive systemic social and environmental change.
Now, I’m on the faculty at NC State’s Poole College of Management. My energy source is the curiosity, drive, talent
and the passion of the students I have the opportunity to engage. My hope is that I can inspire them while they are still
trying to figure out how they will use business as a force for good.
How can sustainable become affordable?
Over the last 10 years I’ve been studying a new model of business: B Corporations. These are for profit businesses
that have measured and quantified their impacts on the environment, employees, customers and the community and
been certified to be the best of the best.
B Corps include global brands like Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Allbirds, Shea Moisture and Athleta, and companies in
Durham include Vert & Vogue, Counter Culture Coffee, Happy Dirt, and many others.
Sustainable products and services do tend to come at a premium price but as we’re seeing larger
companies adopt sustainable practices and scale their distribution, those products are becoming more affordable.
I’m particularly interested in major multinational companies like Danone, Unilever and Natura that are getting
engaged in the B Corp movement and making more accessible, sustainable products.
Why did you choose to write fiction?
For the last 20 years, I’ve been writing social justice travel novels that I hope will inspire my readers to explore the
role that each of them can play in addressing social and environmental issues.
I work every day to continuously elevate my understanding of the world and its challenges. I am inspired by the
innovative solutions and creative collaboration that I study and implement.
Through my fiction writing I have an opportunity to share what I learn without the constraints of the real world.
You can find out more on my author website!
How Do We Not shop?
Get informed. I do think that once we better understand the social and environmental cost of our current capitalist
system, which is built on the back of a culture of consumerism, we’ll consume less and more consciously.
I would highly recommend The Story of Stuff series which explores the impacts of a range of commonly-used
products. The True Cost documentary does a great job of exposing the real cost of fast fashion.
When you shop, buy from purposeful companies like B Corps, that support conscious consumption. Patagonia’s
campaign, “Don’t Buy this Jacket,” is a great example from a B Corp that gets it.
What do you consider when buying art?
I like to support local, female, Black artists whose artistic expressions make my home more inviting, engaging and
inspiring.
I got introduced to the local art scene by my BFF and chief artsy friend, Mavis Gragg. Seriously, that’s one of her
many titles.
Mavis is an arts aficionada! She hosts a regular “Meet the Artist” series and has introduced me to some of my favorite
artists including Maya Freelon, Kennedi Carter and Whitney Stanley.
Mavis Gragg, local marvel and good doer.
