Thomas Bland
Richmond Chapter is honored to nominate Thomas A. Bland, Jr for the 2021-2022 National Volunteer of the Year Award. Thomas has been an active member of the Richmond Chapter since 2014. Thomas has served in multiple roles on the CEC as Accountability Chair, Communications Vice-Chair, Young Professionals Vice Chair, Membership committee member, and Registration committee member. He has worked on several Chapter CCRs. CEC considers Thomas a key member, valuable in many aspects. The chapter relies on him heavily. Having a demanding schedule, Thomas has always been willing to help others and does it with a positive and cheerful attitude and courteous demeanor. He manages the registration process and technical logistics for Chapter training events, which is time-consuming and very detailed. Up until the pandemic, Thomas controlled the technology needed at live seminars by working with seminar site staff, managing slides for speakers, running short videos, etc. He coordinated with speakers for loading their presentations.
When the Chapter had to transition to hosting events virtually, none of us in the Chapter had the technical knowledge. Thomas voluntarily stepped up to learn the Zoom and Conferences i/o platforms for the chapter to continue offering educational programs despite the pandemic. As with live seminars, Thomas managed the virtual seminars coordinating with speakers and seminar designated nonprofit groups with their presentations, assisting with Q & A's, and keeping things moving smoothly throughout the seminar
With a recent seminar, there were technical issues with registrations which Thomas working with another key CEC member managed to resolve, ending with a successful seminar. During a time when a key CEC member was unable to assist with some seminars, Thomas held the fort down by doing double work as well as checking in with the CEC member’s welfare.
During his association with the Richmond Chapter, Thomas has had the opportunity to speak at a National AGA event in Orlando, Florida, Washington D.C. twice, and many local Richmond engagements. Thomas has seen growth within AGA where AGA is an organization that welcomes advancement, networking plus so much more
Professionally, Thomas’s career spans from public accounting to coal to mortgage compliance and more recently, state government. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Virginia State University and a Master of Science in Business Management from the University of Maryland. He is currently studying for the CGFM exam. He is currently employed as Senior Internal Auditor at the Virginia Department of Corrections.
In conclusion, the Richmond Chapter considers Thomas Volunteer of the Year for his exemplary service with AGA.