Favorite Quote:
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
What does Women's History Month mean to you?
Women's History month is an amazing opportunity to celebrate women...all women! This is a time to pour into and uplift each other. Women's History month is also a wonderful occasion to celebrate our next generation of female leaders and to remind these young ladies of the strength, intelligence, light, creativity and beauty that resides within them.
LaQuitta Thomas works as an Information Technology Project Manager and certified Agile ScrumMaster with Texas Instruments, Incorporated in Dallas, Texas, and has been with the company for 27 years. LaQuitta is very active in the areas of Engineering and IT recruitment and talent development at Texas Instruments and was appointed campus champion for TI at Southern University and A&M College in 2003, and in 2007 as Executive Sponsor. During LaQuitta’s tenure as Executive Sponsor, Texas Instruments donated $750,000 to support student scholarships, the TI Automated Test Engineering class and student organizations in the College of Sciences and Engineering.
About LaQuitta
LaQuitta was educated in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), having earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science from The Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in December 1993. She earned a Master of Business Administration specializing in eCommerce from the University of Dallas Graduate School of Management in 2001.
LaQuitta is a Life member of the National Black MBA Association and in December 2018, was named the organization’s Community Champion of the year. She is committed to STEM and serves the National Society of Black Engineers and is a Life member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.
LaQuitta is afforded many opportunities to give back to the community as a Diamond Life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She celebrated 25 years of service in the sorority in 2019.
LaQuitta supported diabetes research for 20 years in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and served on the Corporate Advisory Council for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.
In 2018, LaQuitta was inducted into the National African American Women’s Leadership Institute (NAAWLI) and partnered with a colleague on developing “STEMage Is Everything”, a concept that encourages young ladies to see and create their identity in STEM. As a result, LaQuitta serves on the North Dallas High School Advisory board working with the administration, faculty and students on career readiness and promoting STEM.
LaQuitta was selected in March 2019 as a “Hidden Figure – Top STEM Influencer” in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by the National Society of Black Engineers, an honor she cherishes.
LaQuitta is passionate about assisting our next generation of leaders and their transition from the dorm room to the board room and spends time mentoring college students and new college grads on career planning and chartering their personal roadmap. LaQuitta, who has mentored and advised countless students over the years, created a career bootcamp 101 workshop. The workshop is designed to assist college students with preparing for and landing great careers after graduation. She enjoys sharing career leading practices with college students and has conducted the bootcamp workshop at HBCUs Morehouse College, Spelman College and Southern University and A&M College.
As part of LaQuitta’s commitment to education, she created the IgNite InSpire STEM scholarship in 2021. The scholarship, which will be awarded to one female student at each of the five Southern University System campuses annually, was designed to ignite, inspire, motivate and celebrate young women in the Southern University System majoring in a STEM discipline.
LaQuitta is an extremely proud and active member of The Southern University Alumni Federation and was elected as the first female National President of the 79-year old organization in July, 2018. She is honored and humbled to serve as the 19th National President for the SU Alumni Federation and is committed to increasing Alumni engagement, SU Support, helping Southern re-establish national academic prominence and building relationships with more corporate partners to benefit the SU System and the Alumni Federation. LaQuitta is over the moon excited to continue giving back to the SU System, the students and the best Alumni on the planet!
LaQuitta, a true servant leader, is dedicated to impacting the next generation with education, scholarship, career and professional development opportunities. She firmly believes in the scriptures “your gift will make room for you” and “to whom much is given, much is required”. She’s enthusiastic, energized and excited about the road ahead and believes the best is yet to come.