MEDA's board in profile: Tom Bishop
Thomas R. Bishop, Greenwood Village, Colorado, MEDA treasurer
Day job: Tom Bishop is senior vice-president of D.A. Davidson, an investment banking firm specializing in public finance. He is MEDA’s treasurer, chair of its finance committee, and serves on the board of MEDA Investments Inc./Sarona. “I like the way MEDA applies values-based business principles to help the poor help themselves,” he says. “I like the way MEDA leverages its membership donations with grants and contracts, often six to one, sometimes as high as 10 to 1. I also like the people of MEDA – members, staff, board, supporters – all with a unified mission and an agreed-upon set of values.”
Most fun: Getting the Colorado MEDA Chapter members involved. In the mid-1990s Tom and 16 others visited Paraguay and got so enthused they played a key investment role in MEDA Paraguay’s first CODIPSA starch factory. Another trip drew 26 people. “It got people really excited about MEDA.”
Hobbies: Tom is a model railroader whose train of choice is the LGB Garden Train. He liked trains as a kid, then renewed his interest when he saw a big train about 20 years ago. “I was attracted to that size, and the novelty of being able to put it in the garden outside,” he says. After some strong hints Tom’s wife Trinda gave him a starter set one Christmas, which he later enlarged and expanded to the garden. Now he has 750 feet of track with enough blocking stations to run eight or 10 trains at a time. It’s a big job to maintain the garden and electronics, but Tom says it’s worth it – for the grandchildren, of course.
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