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Alison Thompson

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Alison Thompson holding her heart flag

Alison Thompson has worked for the past 16 years as a full-time humanitarian volunteer.[1][2][3][4]

Alison Thompson is dressed in yellow emergency gear and a love cap. She is carrying a Syrian refugee baby to safety.
Alison Thompson helping Syrian refugees off a boat.

Biography

Greece and Syria

Dr. Alison Thompson is a full time humanitarian volunteer running large refugee camps, field hospitals and resiliency hubs in natural and man-made disasters around the world for the past 22 years. Thompson founded Third Wave Volunteers on Sept 11th, 2001 where she was a first responder. Third Wave Volunteers have grown to over 30,000 first responder members. Thompson has an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in the Humanities from Loyola Chicago University, the Order of Australia from Australian Government and Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, and the 'Medal of Excellence' from General Simeon Trombitas and the 82nd Airborne. Thompson is the current Ambassador to the Haitian Ministry of Environment and an appointed UN chaplain- ( June 2020). Volunteer work reaches to the Syrian refugee drownings in the Argean sea to the starvation of the Venezuela refugees to disasters in Haiti, Nepal, Africa, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Puerto Rico, Bahamas and locally in America with Hurricanes Matthew, Harvey, Irma, Maria, Florence, Michael and Dorian in the Bahamas. COVID-19- Thompson is currently organizing the delivery of 1 million N95 medical masks to first responders nationwide.

In 1990, Thompson worked on Wall St, followed by NYU film school and became a DGA film director. Thompsons' Sept 11th 2001 work had a profound effect on her life and became a full time humanitarian. After the 2004 Asian tsunami Thompson managed a busy field hospital and helped rebuild the village of Peraliya. In Sri Lanka she founded CTEC, the first Community Tsunami Early-warning Disaster Center and children's learning museum. Her award-winning Documentary "The Third Wave" focuses on volunteerism and premiered at the 2008 Cannes film festival supported by Actor Sean Penn and Bono followed by a book by Random House with the same title. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake Thompson, Sean Penn and 10 doctors managed a 75,000 person IDP camp and field hospital. In Haiti Thompson also co-founded WeAdvance, a Haiti organization combating gender-based violence.

Since 2015, Thompson has been working on the island of Lesvos, Greece as a paramedic in the epicenter of the Syrian refugee crisis where millions have fled the war zones of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. [5][6] Thompson is also bringing innovative solar lights to give to the Syrian women and children in the dark refugee camps.[7]

Solar lights are important for the refugees living in the dark. Thompson has personally distributed over 100,000 solar lights.[8][9][10]

Thompson believes 'everyone is needed'and lectures on leadership, volunteering, sustainability, love, renewable energy, gender based violence, vulnerable climates and corporate social responsibility via the American Program Bureau.

Honours

In 2015 she was honored at Loyola Chicago University with an Honorary ‘Doctorate of Letters’,[11] in the ‘Humanities’, where she also gave the commencement speech.[11]

Media

Her documentary The Third Wave chronicles her volunteer experience in Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami and was screened at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in a Presidential Jury Screening presented by Sean Penn and Bono. She followed up with a book published by Random House called The Third Wave: A Volunteer Story.

Awards

  • 2009 honored by US Army Two- Star General Simeon Trombitas and the 82nd Airborne Division with the US Commanders 'Medal of Excellence' Award
  • 2010 Order of Australia
  • 2010 The Paul Harris award from Rotary International
  • 2005 Humanitarian award from the President of Sri Lanka
  • 2012 InStyle award for Charity and Community
  • 2015 Loyola Chicago University Honorary ‘Doctorate of Letters’,‘Humanities’ [11]

References

  1. ^ Fox, MeiMei. "Leading By Being 'In The Right Place At The Wrong Time'". Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  2. ^ "Saving lives amid world's worst humanitarian crisis". Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  3. ^ Sara Sidner, Gul Tuysuz and Mary Rogers. "The woman who never shies away from disaster". CNN. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  4. ^ World Race Films (2016-03-01), Just Do Something - Alison Thompson from the Beaches of Lesvos, retrieved 2016-08-31
  5. ^ "Refugee Crisis Lesbos, Greece". CNN iReport. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  6. ^ Chris Morrow (2015-11-21), Syrian Refugees land in Lesbos Greece - crisis, retrieved 2016-08-31
  7. ^ Operation Blessing International (2016-05-10), Illuminating Greece: Solar Lights For Refugees, retrieved 2016-08-31
  8. ^ Poet, Gregory Weinkauf; pundit; Writer, Award-Winning (2016-07-11). "Let There Be Light! Inventor Alice Chun and Dr. Alison Thompson Bring Solight's SolarPuff to the World". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  9. ^ Chris Morrow (2015-11-23), Giving Light to the Syrian Refugees - Lesbos Greece, retrieved 2016-08-31
  10. ^ Pastrana, Lauren. "South Florida Woman Helps Light The Way For Syrian Refugees". Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  11. ^ a b c ArtsAndCultureTv (2015-06-19), Alison Thompson Loyola Doctoral Ceremony, retrieved 2016-08-31
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