Our Esteemed Founder

Christopher J. Thomas, MPA, RBLP-T

Sergeant Major, U.S. Marine Corps (retired)

Christopher J. Thomas is a passionate strategist and senior executive leader with over 2 decades of experience, providing innovative and creative plans for solving the most complex problems through proven leadership methodologies and concepts. His expertise and earned military skills align with the recruitment and cultivation of countless organizations and industries. He is a talent acquisition specialist in Albany, NY, and leads resilient team programs that open numerous opportunities and endless possibilities for clients to achieve prosperity and success in their respective sectors and businesses.

Our founder’s dedication created impactful and satisfying results solely in different business sizes and organizations. He possesses exceedingly mastered sets of skills and analytical prowess that enable him to go beyond the expectations of our clients.

Chris has a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and a Master’s in Public Administration. Moreover, he is a Resilience-Building Leadership Professional Trainer and a certified Everything DiSC Practitioner.

Meet Our Team of Dedicated Professionals

Our professional team has over nine decades of combined experience and expertise in numerous job industries and sectors. This enabled us to provide top-notch and most sought-after services. The results of our combined experiences and skills are impeccable, which made us the leading consulting firm in the field. We commit and pride ourselves in resolving far-fetched and difficult issues and continuously providing the best-crafted solutions and services. To Elite 9 Talent Solutions, no workplace issue is too big and difficult to resolve.

To learn more about our team, click each of the photos of any of our instructors to view their profiles on LinkedIn. Or, you may “by-name” request any of our instructors and adjunct professors in Albany, NY, when enrolling in our Building & Leading Resilient Teams Program.

James Cabarrus, MPA, RBLP-T

Talent Acquisition Specialist & Adjunct Instructor

Ebony Jeffries, MA, RBLP-T

Adjunct Instructor

Jackie Kirkwood, MBV, MA, RBLP-T

Adjunct Instructor

Ray Jones, M.Ed, RBLP-T

Adjunct Instructor

Chester Wilson, III, BAS, RBLP-T

Adjunct Instructor

Shaun Lehnert, MSM-HR, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, PMP, RBLP-T

Adjunct Instructor

Shakera Grey, MBA, RBLP-T

Adjunct Instructor

Shakera Grey, MBA, RBLP-T

Adjunct Instructor

Dr. Christopher J. Thomas, Ed.D.

Founder & Chief Executive Officer,

Elite 9 Talent Solutions

Dr. Christopher J. Thomas is an executive leader, organizational strategist, and leadership development professional with more than 20 years of experience leading high-performing teams, solving complex organizational challenges, and developing resilient, high performing workplace cultures across military, public, and private-sector environments.

As the founder of Elite 9 Talent Solutions, Dr. Thomas specializes in leadership development, organizational diagnostics, workforce resilience, talent strategy, and culture-focused consulting that helps organizations improve performance, retention, engagement, and operational effectiveness. A central component of Dr. Thomas’s work is the development of the Elite 9 Leadership Engine™, an organizational intelligence and leadership diagnostics platform designed to help organizations identify, measure, and address hidden workplace challenges before they negatively impact performance. The platform combines leadership analytics, workforce perception data, burnout indicators, retention risk metrics, organizational trust measurements, and culture-health assessments into a comprehensive system that provides leaders with actionable insights for organizational improvement.

The Elite 9 Leadership Engine™ was built from both real-world executive leadership experience and Dr. Thomas’s doctoral research in leadership and organizational effectiveness. The system is specifically designed to move organizations beyond surface level employee surveys by diagnosing root-cause leadership and workplace issues through data-driven analysis, predictive workforce indicators, and customized reporting. Its purpose is to help organizations strengthen leadership effectiveness, improve employee experience, reduce burnout and turnover risk, and create healthier, more sustainable workplace cultures.

Dr. Thomas earned a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Leadership & Innovation, where his doctoral research focused on leadership perception, organizational health, employee engagement, and evidence-based leadership improvement strategies. His research emphasizes the critical relationship between how leaders perceive themselves and how employees actually experience leadership within an organization, reinforcing the importance of measurable leadership effectiveness and organizational trust.

In addition to his doctorate, Dr. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and a Master of Public Administration. He is also a certified Everything DiSC Practitioner and Resilience-Building Leadership Professional Trainer.

Through Elite 9 Talent Solutions and the Elite 9 Leadership Engine™, Dr. Thomas continues to help organizations build stronger leaders, healthier workplace cultures, and more resilient teams through research-driven leadership development, organizational intelligence, executive consulting, and customized strategic solutions.

Meet Our Team of Dedicated Professionals

Our professional team has over nine decades of combined experience and expertise in numerous job industries and sectors. This enabled us to provide top-notch and most sought-after services. The results of our combined experiences and skills are impeccable, which made us the leading consulting firm in the field. We commit and pride ourselves in resolving far-fetched and difficult issues and continuously providing the best-crafted solutions and services. To Elite 9 Talent Solutions, no workplace issue is too big and difficult to resolve.To learn more about our team, click each of the photos of any of our instructors to view their profiles on LinkedIn. Or, you may “by-name” request any of our instructors and adjunct professors in Albany, NY, when enrolling in our Building & Leading Resilient Teams Program.

James Cabarrus

MPA, RBLP-TTalent Acquisition Specialist &
Adjunct Instructor

Jackie Kirkwood

MBV, MA, RBLP-TAdjunct Instructor

Shaun Lehnert

MSM-HR, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, PMP, RBLP-TAdjunct Instructor

Chester Wilson

III, BAS, RBLP-TAdjunct Instructor

Ray Jones

M.Ed, RBLP-TAdjunct Instructor

Ebony Jeffries

MA, RBLP-TAdjunct Instructor

Shakera Grey

MBA, RBLP-TAdjunct Instructor