Captain Lesa Thomas-Dodd is big on giving back and has made it her life’s mission to help as many people as she can in as many ways as she can.
For the past six years, she has sponsored one of the houses at the Guy’s Hill Primary School for sports day, the Lesa House and has partnered with VM Group Limited to set up deposit-only accounts for 70 students.
She has also secured five scholarships for students at the primary school.
“I want to motivate the students to save and have a better future,” she told Loop News.
She plans to review the accounts annually and double the amount saved by the parents for the year, she said noting the funds will come from her personal resources.
“My plan for the account is that they should not be able to touch that account until they reach 18,” she told Loop News.
Vice principal of the Guys Hill Primary Deloris Green said the school and parents are quite appreciative of Lesa’s contribution.
“She is very visible although she lives abroad. She is always interested in their welfare and reaches out. The parents also really love her,” Green said.
Speaking to the partnership, Conroy Rose, Chief Sales Officer, VM Group, said Lesa’s act of giving back “will have a meaningful impact.”
“We are pleased to be partnering on such a worthy initiative which moved the VMBS Linstead branch to also gift five additional students with $5,000 each. We are happy Mrs Thomas-Dodd chose to reach out to us on this venture, allowing these youngsters to become part of the family of VM and have access to our wide suite of member benefits, including secondary and tertiary-level scholarships and grants through the VM Foundation,” he said.
Born in London to Jamaican parents, the pilot and certified counsellor visited the Guy’s Hill community, where her parents were from, almost every holiday as a child and has remained connected to the area through her philanthropic work.
“Visiting was a major part of my life – getting that Jamaican grounding through my grandmother,” Lesa told Loop News beaming at the influence her Jamaican upbringing has had on her desire to give back.
She is also quite proud of her Jamaican passport, she said noting the feeling of connection it gives to her parents’ home country.
Her partnership with VM also extends to England where she partnered with the bank to bring Jamaican Grand Market to Kensington.
“We have people here in England who have forgotten their culture and how authentic Jamaica is so I decided to bring the Jamaican Grand Market to England,” she said.
The event featured Jamaican food, art and craft and fashion with a section called ‘Shop in the Dark’ that saw vendors and shoppers using bottle lamps and flashlights to sell and browse.
“Some Jamaicans living in England have lost ties with family back home or cannot afford a trip back. What I’m trying to do is bring Jamaica back to them so they can reconnect,” she said.
The first staging of the event was held just before the COVID-19 lockdown. But with things now getting back to normal, she plans to host another event this December.
Thomas-Dodd also has plans to extend herself even more through a lifestyle magazine and motivational club called Lesa Lifestyle Magazine which are set to be launched this August.
“The objective of the magazine and club is to promote a healthy approach to living and to help females who have been through domestic violence as well as vulnerable females recover from negative past and create a safe space so they have someone to talk to,” she said.
“I just want to continue helping people to feel good about themselves and toward building better communities,” she said.
Having spent several years working in victim support and with a Master’s Degree in Counselling from Themes Valley University, Lesa also headed a community outreach site for victims of the Grenfell fire in 2017.
“I lived within the Kensington community. So, along with One Voice, we set up a donation centre for people to make donations to the victims, had counselling for victims and handled care packages and other community support,” she said.
She also found herself focused on helping the children of families affected by the fire.
“School children were also affected in that they lost friends and family members. The whole community was depressed because a lot of families were suffering,” she said.
Lesa’s philanthropic deeds are as varied as the paths she has trod with her journey to becoming a pilot intertwined with her admiration for the Air Jamaica crew at Heathrow who encouraged her to study aviation.
“I wanted to become a ship captain but I diverted into being a pilot after being around the pilot crew of Air Jamaica,” she said.
With over 16 years in airport security under her belt, she climbed the ranks to security manager and then took a break to pursue her counselling degree with many other detours along the way.
Asked where she finds time for so many causes, the very humble and genteel Lesa said: “I love community projects, helping vulnerable people and children and I believe in giving back as I have received.”
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