Maria Thomas

Maria Thomas is an expert advisor, board member, and angel investor focusing on helping larger companies navigate digital transformation and helping startups build lasting businesses. In addition to the American Journalism Project Board, Maria serves on the board of the nonprofit Pew Research Center and on the board of Perch Energy, a community solar company.

In her operating career, Maria helped build some of the most recognizable brands in the digital landscape. She’s the former chief executive officer of Etsy, the former chief marketing officer at SmartThings, and an early product leader at Amazon.com. Maria was also the leader of NPR’s successful transformation from a radio-only company to a best-in-class multimedia enterprise.

Earlier in her career Maria worked in finance on Wall Street and for the World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation. She received a MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in Accounting from Boston University. She received a Master in Healthcare Innovation from the University of Pennsylvania in 2022.