Sonya Thomas

Sonya Thomas is one of the founding parent activists for the first of its kind parent MOVEMENT in Nashville, TN. 

Nashville P.R.O.P.E.L’s mission is to organize and develop powerful parent leaders to ignite a movement that demands equitable policies and practices in Nashville Public Education. She is honored to lead this group of powerful parents to disrupt inequities in education. She joins founding leaders from Memphis, St. Louis, San Antonio, Oakland, Atlanta, and Dallas Fort Worth growing the national Powerful Parent Movement. She believes when children are inspired and given what they need, every child will reach their greatest potential. 

Sonya has served as an education adviser to mayoral candidates and education centered groups in Tennessee and has challenged 2020 presidential candidates on their education plans. She is a recipient of the 2023 Women Who Rock Education and 2023/ 2024 Nashville Power poll most powerful people awards. Sonya knows her most important role is being a mother to her beloved sons, Jordan and CJ and daughters Sarah and Trinity. In her spare time she enjoys watching college football (Roll Tide), reading, and sewing.

While she fights for change in school systems, she knows very well that parent partnership and educators play a vital role in improving the educational outcomes of all students and that literacy is the key to this work. Her story, featured in “What the Words Say” by APM Reporter Emily Hanford, provides all of us with a call to action to improve literacy instruction for students and spurs us to action to ensure students are taught to read based on the research.

Sonya and the work of Nashville PROPEL has also been featured in BET’s docuseries by executive producer Soledad O’Brien, “Disrupt and Dismantle.” In 2023, the work will be featured in The Truth About Reading by executive producer Nick Nanton.