Senior Sage Leadership: Interview of Barbara Thomas

6. There are five key roles that civic leaders often play in their community:

•  Mentor: teaching and engaging the young
•  Mediator: helping to resolve community conflict
•  Monitor: serving as a public watchdog
•  Mobilizer: working to bring about social change
•  Motivator: urging people toward public good and away from self-interest

As you think about your own civic involvement in our community, which of these roles have you played and which do you consider to be your strongest?

My principal civic role here is in mentoring young people. There is one young woman in particular whose mother had been killed in an automobile crash. I helped to mentor her through her grieving process and our relationship continues to this day. I have also been involved in two other civic roles: as a mobilizer to bring about social change and as motivator to urge people toward public good and away from self-interest.

7. This project has to do with the involvement of sage leaders like yourself in civic organizations that seek to improve the quality of life and well-being of Grass Valley and Nevada City. This includes nine types of civic organizations:

•  Fraternal and service clubs
•  Social services organizations
•  Educational organizations
•  Governmental and political organizations
•  Arts organizations
•  Media organizations
•  Faith-based organizations
•  Environmental organizations
•  Other nonprofit organizations

In which of the nine types of civic organizations on the list are you currently involved? Overall, how many total hours a month do you give to these organizations?

I’ve been involved in two types of civic organization: educational/social services and arts. I give about 60 hours a month to these organizations.