The first meeting of the Tulsa Children’s Cabinet took place on May 15, signaling Mayor Monroe Nichols’ commitment to seeing an additional 15,000 Tulsa children on a path to economic mobility by 2030 via the establishment of the Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth and Families.
According to Deputy Mayor Krystal Reyes, chair of the cabinet, Tulsa is in good company with other cities focused on empowering youth.
“A lot of cities have a similar kind of city-wide body that’s focused on children and youth,” Reyes says, “so it’s a model where there are a lot of best practices and we’re really excited to implement this in Tulsa.”
The 34-member cabinet includes representatives of tribal nations; leaders from public entities, philanthropy, higher education and K-12 systems; as well as workforce experts. Three public school students — Lillian Geld, Susana Argueta-Acosta and Leslie Cardiel — serve in the cabinet as recommended by the local Tulsa Changemakers leadership development program.
Reyes says the City and MOCYF are contracting with Impact Tulsa, a local nonprofit focused on policy and cradle-to-
career initiatives across the country. Not only does Impact Tulsa have national partnerships, it also has partnerships and data agreements with local school districts, making Impact Tulsa the “perfect kind of partner for this work,” she says.
Impact Tulsa Executive Director Ashley Philippsen is co-chair of the cabinet and director of MOCYF, and says the next few months will be focused on outlining the group’s priorities.
“The priorities the cabinet will collaborate around will be how might they shift policies, align public and private resources, and ensure programs align in service of the mayor’s priorities,” Philippsen says, adding that the priorities include ending homelessness, public safety, affordable housing, tribal nation co-governance, economic opportunity and student outcomes.
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