Thomas supported the City of Richmond’s initiative to build an innovative culture in the Department of Social Services. By adopting civic technology and open data he was able to improve service delivery and access to services and information for employees, non-profit partners, and the city’s residents. Thomas developed a regional approach to implementing the Aunt Bertha tool, a portal that allows users to search for free and reduced cost social service programs by their zip code. Thomas surpassed 150% of target goals by executing a regional approach to installing Aunt Bertha. Aunt Bertha was added to the agency’s balance scorecard so that the executive leadership team will be held accountable for continuous use of the tool. Most importantly, Richmond’s Department of Social Services was able to extend their level of service to clients without increasing the organization’s budget through Thomas’ work.