Sonya Thompson
Sonya Thompson is the Assistant Director of the Information Technology and Data Division. Ms. Thompson began her career with the Bureau of Prisons in 1992 as an Honors Attorney, through the Attorney General's Honors Program. She served in positions of increasing responsibility within the agency including Assistant General Counsel with the Office of General Counsel, Senior Congressional Affairs Specialist in the Office of Congressional Affairs, and Chief of the Information Technology (IT) Planning and Development Branch in the Office of Information Technology. In 2005, Ms. Thompson was appointed as the Deputy Assistant Director for the Information, Policy, and Public Affairs Division (IPPA), then later as the Senior Deputy Assistant Director and BOP Chief Information Officer. In 2019, she was appointed as the Assistant Director for IPPA and in February 2021 she was appointed as the Assistant Director for the Reentry Services Division (RSD). Ms. Thompson was re-appointed as the Assistant Director for IPPA in February 2022 but did not resume the role until September 2022; she served as Acting Chief of Staff for the agency between December 2021 and September 2022. In 2022, IPPA underwent a reorganization and was renamed to the Information Technology and Data (ITD) Division.
As Assistant Director for ITD, Ms. Thompson is responsible for the information technology program for the agency, as well as the Office of Policy and Information Management and the Office of Research and Evaluation. She oversees information technology activities, including the development and support of agency software applications, the management and support of the Bureau's network, the research and evaluation of new security-related technology and equipment, and the development and support of the Bureau's internet and intranet initiatives. Ms. Thompson also oversees technological solutions for collecting, developing, and disseminating information in an accurate and timely manner to Bureau staff, the Department of Justice, Congress, other government agencies, and the public. She serves as the agency's Senior Component Official for Privacy and as a member of the Advisory Policy Board for the FBI's CJIS Division.
Ms. Thompson received her Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and her Juris Doctor degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She is an IAPP-certified privacy professional in the areas of U.S. Government (CIPP/G), Technology (CIPT), and Privacy Management (CIPM). She has been a member of the Senior Executive Service since 2012.