Ayana Thomas, associate vice president of sustainable business operations at Georgetown University, has played a key role in advancing the university’s sustainability initiatives since joining in 2022, according to an April 2 announcement.
Thomas oversees the integration of sustainability operations and leads the Office of Sustainability. She has reinstated inactive programs and introduced new ones, such as Sustainability 101 for faculty and staff training. She also led her team to complete Georgetown’s Laudato Si’ Action plan in 2024 and its first sustainability strategic plan in 2025. These plans are now being implemented across campus.
Recent projects include installing outdoor composting bins at locations like White Gravenor Hall, Lauinger Library, Hoya Harvest Garden, and Epicurean. In addition to her administrative role, Thomas serves as an adjunct professor with the Earth Commons Institute where she teaches undergraduate students majoring in environment and sustainability.
Reflecting on her career path from ministry studies to higher education administration, Thomas said: “Sustainability is a part of everything we do. From the minute you get up, the power that you turn on, the water that you use, the food that you eat, the transportation that you take, the clothes that you wear, all those things have components of sustainability.”
Thomas emphasized how higher education fosters innovation not found elsewhere: “It’s this hub of innovation and creativity that doesn’t exist anywhere else. You can’t do this in government. You can’t do this in the religious sector…innovation doesn’t have the same flair there as it does in higher education,” she said.
Looking ahead for Georgetown’s approach to environmental responsibility on campus and beyond its walls, Thomas outlined her vision: “One is to continue to cultivate conversations among the Georgetown community related to sustainability. The second piece is for Georgetown to advance to a place of leadership in sustainability in higher education. And the third piece of that would be for us to be mindful of our impact on the community and world at large.”
