Jeanne Jackson DeVoe

November 18, 2024

Title & Department: Manager of Procurement Compliance and Supplier Diversity, Procurement Division, Business Operations

Year started at PPPL: 2024

Michelle Thomas didn’t plan on a career in the procurement field, but she has become an advocate for small and diverse businesses. She is working to spread the word about how the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) can partner with business owners through the Procurement Division at PPPL.

“When I first got into procurement, it was just a job,” she recalled. “But when I discovered the notion of small business engagement, it sparked something in me. It’s something I’m passionate about.” 

Thomas started working at PPPL in March of 2024 in the newly created position of procurement compliance and supplier diversity manager, a job she performs remotely from her home in Camden County, New Jersey.

Thomas grew up in Willingboro, New Jersey. She graduated from Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting, telecommunications and mass media, along with a master’s degree in public administration and public sector human resources from Pennsylvania State University.

Started career procuring supplies for prisons

Thomas got started in her career when she was working as a secretary to two associate wardens at the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix in New Jersey, and a retired warden asked her to consider a job in procurement. After a year of training, she became a contracting officer for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, purchasing services and supplies for federal prisons at Fort Dix and in New York for nearly three years. She purchased a range of products and services inmates needed for daily living, ranging from food and produce to gym equipment and medical services.
 

Overseeing supplier diversity at Princeton University 

In 2018, Thomas took a job at Princeton University as a senior buyer. Three years later, she was promoted to a new position as associate director of supplier diversity, overseeing the University’s supplier diversity action plan, which aims to build networks and provide support to ensure the University buys from diverse suppliers. 

Thomas’ role at the Lab combines her background in federal procurement and building relationships with diverse suppliers with an emphasis on encouraging purchases from small businesses. “PPPL is a marriage of two of my experiences coming together: government and university procurement and supplier diversity,” Thomas said.

Emphasizing the importance of small businesses

Thomas wants people to know what great partners small businesses can be. “They tend to bring an eagerness, a hunger and an innovative input that we may not get with a larger business,” she said. “Many times, small businesses can provide a personal touch; when they get the business, they want to keep it.” 

Thomas and her husband, André, a law enforcement officer, have two children, André Thomas Jr., whom the family calls A.J., 3, and Annalise, 1.

Three things about yourself: 

1. “I’m a freelance voice actor. I mostly do that for fun behind the scenes. The most recent one was an animation narrative for the federal government about the housing voucher process.”
    
2. “I’m a big crochet fan. I make plushies and some wearables. I always have crocheting near me.”
    
3. “I used to fish a lot with my husband. I like being by water.”
    

What does working at PPPL mean to you?

“It’s encouraging to see and be a part of a mission that could probably solve our energy crisis in the decades to come.”