Thomas Coulter Gibson

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Areas of Expertise:

• Building organizations and events that deliver sustained excellence
• Instilling a culture of caring
• Managing nonprofits with laser-like focus
• Nonprofit government relations, public relations, branding and communications strategies
• Writing that resonates

Tom Gibson's professional career has been devoted to a singular goal: to make good organizations great. Since 1989, when the first of The Coulter Companies was launched, Gibson has articulated a consistent vision that The Coulter Companies exists for a central purpose: to work with socially progressive, high-potential organizations in transformative ways.

At The Coulter Companies and its business units, this clear sense of who we are permeates our corporate culture and resides at the foundation of our intelligent and successful expansion. It is a vision carried forward by a remarkable staff of creative and energetic professionals who share the founder's passion for transformational thinking made real through excellence in implementation.

Gibson is a thoughtful and empowering executive who believes deeply in the limitless potential of people and organizations. Reflective of his undergraduate English and public policy focus, Gibson helps to refine the elements of each client's unique story, which is then woven into the fabric of organizational action. Gibson is a sought-after expert in the development, design, and management of sophisticated advocacy, public affairs, communications, branding and fundraising campaigns.

As chief strategist for The Coulter Companies and its business units, Gibson's role is to serve both as an internal consultant to his colleagues and as a strategic resource to clients. It is Gibson's further role to ensure the vibrant corporate culture and intent of The Coulter Companies remains undiluted by static thinking. Finally, it is his responsibility to inspire his colleagues to find and fulfill their own vast potential, and in the process, help propel their clients to unexpected heights.

Prior to founding The Coulter Companies, in 1983, Gibson co-launched and served as a senior association executive and lobbyist for the Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel), a prominent telecommunications industry trade association. Under Gibson's leadership, CompTel emerged as the "voice" of the long-distance telephone industry as well as a highly influential public policy advocate for the creation and implementation of a competitive business model.

In addition to his proven expertise in the comprehensive development of nonprofit organizations, Gibson is an experienced government affairs professional, having served as an adviser and fundraiser for various federal candidates and campaigns.

A Florida native, Gibson is an honors graduate of Duke University, with post-graduate work completed at The George Washington University. Gibson is a member of and active in key industry professional organizations, and serves on an array of philanthropic and corporate boards.

Gibson, his wife, Suzanne, and their triplet 15-year-old daughters reside in Great Falls, Virginia.

Now, here's the backstory on Tom:

• Hometown: Clearwater, Florida
• Parents: Dad was a small business owner after an early career with General Electric; Mom was an "uber" volunteer in the community.
• Favorite TV shows as a kid: Mission: Impossible and Shock Theater
• Spent my days as a youth: Playing baseball and doing things I'm glad my parents never knew or found out about.
• Thing I hate to admit, even to myself: Didn't read my first "chapter book" until the fifth grade, ironic given I was later an English major in college.
• Hobbies: Family, politics, golf and reading "chapter books."
• First "paycheck" job: Eleven years old, working for $1.35/hour at a mobile home park (I lived in Florida, after all) mowing lawns and being a "handyman" (or in my case, a "handykid").
• First car: A Ford Galaxy 500, appropriately nicknamed "the green stink."
• First job after college: Lasted less than one day. I was hired out of college by a prominent Washington, D.C., consulting firm that, on my first day of employment, lost its largest client. I was let go the same day. It was a formative experience, teaching me that in business, change is the only constant.
• The day The Coulter Companies was launched in December 1989: It was cold and raining, the polar opposite of my outlook.
• Thing you would most likely learn about me in the first five minutes of conversation: My wife, Suzanne, and I have 15-year-old triplet (yes, triplet) daughters. We quickly learned how to play zone defense.
• Myers-Briggs type: ENTJ
• Personal quote: "Always do right - this will gratify some and astonish the rest." Mark Twain
• Perfect happiness is: Family in the foreground with reflections ("diamonds") on the water (preferably in the Florida Keys) as the backdrop.
• If I had to do it all over again: I would do it all over again.