About Our Team
Shawn Thomas
Founder and CEO
Shawn is the founder of 1st Responder Conferences and a retired deputy from the King County Sheriff's Office in Seattle, WA. Shawn retired in 2022 after 25 years of service as a Wellness and Resiliency Detective and a therapy K9 handler. During her career, Shawn worked patrol, served as an undercover detective, a detective in the warrant unit, transit patrol, and as an explosive K9 handler. She was also a dedicated member of the peer support team for 16 years, serving as a team lead for several of those years.
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Shawn is married to Jeff, who is also a retired King County Sheriff’s Office Deputy. Together, they have two young men: Andrew, who is a volunteer resident firefighter, and Cooper, who is actively involved in the Army ROTC program and the Washington National Guard. Outside of her professional work, Shawn is passionate about supporting first responders, promoting mental health awareness, and fostering community resilience. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and continuing to find ways to give back to those who serve.
Jeff Thomas
Executive Director
Jeff Thomas is a retired deputy for the King County Sheriff's Office. He worked for the King County Sheriff's Office for 32 years. Jeff worked in many units throughout his career, which includes an 18 year stint as a member of the entry unit on the county SWAT team. Jeff has held several training positions within the sheriff’s office to include Field Training Officer, Firearms Instructor, State qualified Swat instructor, Motor Instructor, as well as a Taser Instructor. He also was a member of the King County Honor Guard for 16 years. Jeff is the co-founder of First Responder Conferences and supports Shawn with her passion to support our Everyday Heroes!
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Nicole Stevenson
Executive Assistant
Nicole Stevenson is an LPN at St. Luke’s Health System in Twin Falls, Idaho, as well as a nanny and bookkeeper for MVA, LLC. Prior to nursing, she was an administrative assistant for a railroad company. Nicole is also a volunteer for Twin Falls Police Department helping with community events and keeping the equipment/supply room organized. She attended her first conference in Twin Falls in 2019 and joined the team as a volunteer shortly after attending. Her current position with 1RC allows her to help with all aspects of the conferences. Nicole is passionate about 1RC’s mission to bring mental health and wellness education to First Responders, as she watched some of her dear friends suffer from the effects of being first responders.
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Jae Dobbs
Volunteer
Jae works as a Community Corrections Officer with the Department of Corrections (DOC) in Spokane, WA. She is also a Certified Peer Support Counselor within her department. Jae enjoys giving back to her community, and volunteers with the local Medical Reserve Corps and the Disaster Assistance Response Team. Because of her deep respect for 1st Responders, she also spends time volunteering for 1st Responder Conferences to help promote health & wellness. Additionally, Jae supports her co-workers by working toward curtailing the stigma associated with mental health in the Corrections field.
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Amanda Fowell
Volunteer
Amanda began volunteering with 1st Responder Conferences in June 2022 as a way to give back to the first responder community. She was a probation officer for eight years and vice president of her employee association before making a career switch to pursue a law degree. While working as a probation officer she held various assignments which included the multi-agency Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Team (SAFE) and the gang task force. She was a frequent guest-lecturer in the Criminal Justice Department at California State University, Sacramento, her alma mater.
Amanda works part time at a law firm with future plans to represent public safety professionals. She is the wife of a sheriff’s deputy and army veteran in California and has several close friends and family members in public safety. Her husband has been involved in several traumatic experiences while on duty and she understands the importance of having a strong support system and the tools needed to navigate an often challenging, yet extremely rewarding profession. Amanda is passionate about supporting first responders and their families.
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NeShawn Jubilee
Volunteer
Neshawn is a Police Corporal with the Ocean City Police Department in Ocean City, Maryland where he serves as a member of the department’s Peer Support Team. Neshawn is also the Vice President of Behind the Line Inc in Salisbury, Maryland which is a corporation that provides services and support to First Responders/Public Safety, Veterans and their families to promote wellness and support after emotionally distressing events. He also served as a volunteer fireman for 15 years in his community.
Neshawn has a passion for serving the community in any way that he can and has a desire for helping people. He attended his first conference in 2021 in Ocean City, Maryland and decided to join the 1st RC team after attending his second conference in 2023.
He aims to help the officers within his agency to see the importance of mental health and wellness and to share the valuable resources and tools learned in the 1st Responder Conferences.
In his own words, “I am excited to be a part of the family and am ready to help in any way that I can.”
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Christine Curtis
Volunteer
Christine joined 1st RC in 2024 and began volunteering in preparation for our first Sacramento, CA conference. Christine previously worked as a Correctional Technician for the Butte County Sheriff's Office for 12 years. She served as a Field Training Officer, Secretary of the Correctional Officers Association, and received training as a Chaplain. After the Camp Fire in 2018, Christine worked in the donation center for first responders who lost everything in the fire and found great meaning in giving back to the first responder community. She was a part of the initial building of the Health and Wellness team that soon followed. As a spouse of a police officer, Christine has a passion for supporting mental health and wellness among the first responder community with a focus on their spouses.
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