Commissioner Ronald C. Thomas brought a message of empowerment and urgency to the African American Trade and Investment Summit currently ongoing in Cincinnati, Ohio, telling delegates that the relationship between Africa and the African-American community is “rare and opportune” and must be seized with intentionality.
Thomas, Chief of Social Impact Opportunity at the Ohio Department of Development, spoke not only as a government official but as a mentor and community advocate. His address was punctuated with calls for action, personal reflection, and a challenge to those who would let shyness or hesitation stand between them and opportunity.
“I aspire to inspire before I am inspired,” Thomas said, repeating a personal motto. “Part of inspiring people is helping them understand that their current condition does not have to become their final destination.”
The commissioner painted a picture of untapped potential on both sides of the Atlantic: entrepreneurs with world-class ideas, young people with undiscovered creativity, businesses ready to scale, investors seeking opportunities, and markets waiting to be entered.
“There are doors waiting to be opened,” he said. “And perhaps, just perhaps, some of those doors are going to be opened and closed.”
Thomas acknowledged the historical weight of the Africa-American relationship but insisted it must evolve into something practical. “This is a connection for tomorrow,” he said. “Africa and America possess extraordinary human capital.”
He called on delegates to ask not what they could get, but what they could become together. “What can we build together? What can we manufacture together? What can we develop together? What can we innovate together? What can we invest in together? What problems can we solve together?”
The commissioner’s message was explicitly intergenerational. He praised President Matthews, a young leader he described as “one of our future leaders here, not just citywide, but statewide and nationally,” and invoked the words of Lt. Governor Dr. Barnes: “Our job is to make sure everybody knows that God gave them the potential and God gave them the purpose.”
Thomas urged delegates to be bold in their networking. “You can’t be shy when it comes to that,” he said. “Believe me, don’t be shy. You do not always have to be the person with the right answer. Sometimes you simply have to know the person. You don’t always have to possess the resource. Sometimes your responsibility is to connect somebody to a resource.”
He ended with a blessing and a charge: “May your conversation be productive. May your relationship be meaningful. May your vision be enlarged. May doors of opportunity open. And may what begins in this room become something that impacts communities on both sides of the Atlantic for generations to come.”
Then, with a final call to action: “Now let’s get to work.”