Thelma Gibson founded Miami-Dade County's first women's chamber in 1984.  Gibson, a registered nurse, began her career as a staff nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospital in 1947. For more than 50 years, she has also been a trailblazer in education, mental and physical health, community and professional leadership, volunteerism and service to her church, community and family. 

Thelma Gibson has received numerous awards over the years, her most recent being the Lifetime Achievement Award by the U.S. Department of Commerce-Minority Business Enterprise.  This was presented at the 24th Annual Medweek Awards October 21, 2006.  Her autobiography, Forbearance, Thelma Vernell Anderson Gibson, Life Story of a Cocoanut Grove Native, was released in the Fall of 2000.  Mrs. Gibson also sponsors the Gibson Health Initiative housed at the Theodore R. Gibson Building that provides free testing and assistance for HIV and AIDS infected persons.  Her latest project is the Theodore and Thelma School of the Performing Arts located on Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove where the students receive academics with a focus on the Arts.

She serves on numerous boards and committees, including:

Jewish Home for the Aged

Coconut Grove Cares Mental Health Association

United Home Care Services

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

University of Miami Board of Trustees

President of the Theodore R. Gibson Memorial Fund

Visiting Nurses Association of Miami Dade County

Grovites United to Survive (GUTS)

Theodore R. and Thelma A. Gibson Charter School - Miami-Dade Public School

In 1999 the Women's Chamber established the Thelma Gibson Awards of Excellence to honor its founder.  Each year, the award honors an individual and a corporation that has excelled in promoting leadership, excellence and business development among corporate and professional women. 

For more information on Thelma's book visit www.forbearance-tva-gibson.com.   For a complete biographical sketch of Thelma Gibson, click here