A young mother who had just moved to Tulsa took her infant son to the doctor for help with a typical neonatal illness. During a routine evaluation, the doctor startled her by abruptly mentioning that her baby was mentally retarded. The mother naturally expressed grave concern and began asking questions, but was interrupted by the doctor’s response -- one which clearly assumed she would not be capable of understanding or helping her son with his disability; all, leaving her with a grim sense of belittlement and loss, and where, at this juncture, no help was forthcoming. This experience, among many others, began a journey for one young parent resulting in life changing consequences and contribution for every citizen with disabilities in Oklahoma and, indeed, the United States.

Dr. Judy O. Berry, the brave mother in this story, and presently mother of two wonderful sons -- Doug and Ryan -- Doug, the eldest, being the infant in the story -- completed her Baccalaureate degree at the University of Oklahoma and became a Master’s level Speech Pathologist after training at Kansas State University. Judy later received a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Tulsa. As a professional raising a son with disability, and with her husband, John, by her side, Judy continued balancing her demanding family duties with work in clinical settings like Children’s Medical Center. When she became a faculty member at TU, she was able to combine her clinical, family, and volunteer experiences with her scholarly work. In the TU psychology department, where she is now a full professor, Judy's teaching, research and writing continue to reflect her commitment to children and families.

Doug, her son with disability, is now an adult who successfully lives in the community with a new system of supports and Ryan is an active teenager who successfully lives at home and attends Edison High School.

Judy’s quiet and steady accomplishments often led to bringing families and professionals together. Early in the disability movement, Dr. Berry helped obtain one of the first grants in Oklahoma which provided advocacy training for families alongside university faculty -- an idea that is commonly used across the nation today. Nearly twenty years ago, Judy also became an essential team member and leader within a group of families who insisted on creating a new vision for their children with severe disabilities -- one that did not mean locking them away. These courageous families became the primary initiators of what is known today as the Homeward Bound Settlement Decree. Through their stamina and advocacy, Oklahoma has completely overhauled its public vision and funding for persons with severe disabilities. Embodying that vision, Doug Berry -- who lived a segregated life at Hissom for nearly six years -- now lives his life with possibility in our community. He is able to have friends and family close by, and a chance to access all options available in the larger community. In short, today, the closure of Hissom and parallel creation of community services serves as a guide for Oklahoma’s and many national systems of community service for people with disabilities.

Judy is honored not only for her remarkable advocacy for her son and her determined teamwork with families which changed life possibilities for all persons with disabilities, but also for her writings. After publishing numerous journal articles about children and families, in 1998, with her colleague, Dr. Mike Hardman, Dr. Berry produced a first -- a scholarly and family-friendly textbook -- Lifespan Perspectives on the Family and Disability. This text is being used across the nation in classrooms, with families, and as essential reading for persons with disabilities and persons who acquire disabilities.

It is for these and many more gifts to our community that we genuinely thank Judy for her courage, her perseverance, her leadership and excellence in contribution as the 1999 recipient of the Tarbel Achievement Award in the Field of Disabilities.

Phil Dessauer, Executive Director of the Community Service Council, writes:

Steve Kennedy is a determined, talented guy who likes to take risks.  Why else would he accept a job most marketers would consider one of their worst nightmares, chairing the Council’s Communications Committee? Let’s face it, CSC is not exactly a household word, and despite its impressive accomplishments for almost sixty years, it is no easy sell. But Steve was up to the task. He was challenged, but not awed, and very confident about his strategy ... get help! And he did, by recruiting some of his marketing/advertising pals.

It worked. During the last several years Steve and his small but committed bunch have greatly improved CSC’s "marketing" position and message, as well as increased its use of new media – including, most recently, the web: we're now online, at www.csctulsa.org. Amazingly, under Steve’s leadership our potential market has leaped from a 2500 name mailing list to the endless boundaries of the Internet.

In 1997, this group became the Early Childhood Awareness Committee and Steve continued as its volunteer chair. They took on the job of introducing the new research on brain development to the Tulsa community, bringing together many groups sharing CSC’s growing commitment to early childhood development and school readiness. In conjunction with the nationwide "I Am Your Child" awareness campaign, the local committee organized an array of events, publications, and news articles to engage parents, policymakers, the news media, service providers, and others on early brain development’s tremendous potential for increasing positive outcomes for all children. The highlight of this effort was a community-wide Summit on early brain development hosted by Mayor Savage in August of 1997 and attended by over 300 persons from Tulsa and around the state. Steve and the resources at his ad agency were the marketing driving force behind the Summit, and afterward, Steve used the Summit’s transcript to prepare a widely distributed educational booklet. (The Committee has since been transformed into the new Tulsa Partnership for Children which will be initiating a new, even more extensive community engagement campaign on school readiness in early 2000.)

A native Tulsan, Steve graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in broadcast communications in 1972. From 1975 to 1978, he served on the faculty of Tulsa Junior College as an instructional media producer and director. He began his advertising career in 1978 as a copywriter at Tulsa’s Brothers & Co.

Later, he joined Hood, Hope & Associates, where he worked as an account executive on a variety of financial, business-to-business and consumer accounts. He left Hood, Hope to become a partner in another ad agency in 1983.

In 1997 he established HKH, a full-service advertising, marketing and graphic design firm.  As managing partner, he worked with Jon Hibblen and Chris Hernandez.  During their careers, they have contributed their time and talents to a variety of non-profit agencies and organizations that serve the Tulsa area. These include: American Red Cross, Tulsa Chapter; Assistance in Healthcare; Call Rape; Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa; Domestic Violence Intervention Service (DVIS); Family & Children’s Service; Helpline; Junior Achievement; Junior League of Tulsa; Metropolitan Human Service Commission (MHSC); Planned Parenthood; Prevent Blindness of Oklahoma; Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP); Salvation Army; Town & Country School; Tulsa Area United Way; Tulsa Summit on Early Childhood Development; and tulsapets.com.

[Note, added in 2007:  Steve later founded his current firm, Kennedy Marketing And Advertising -- KM2A.]

Steve has won many local, regional, and international awards for his work and has served as a judge in both regional and national advertising competitions.

He has been a board member and president of the American Marketing Association (AMA), Tulsa Chapter, and has been an AMA guest lecturer on direct response advertising. He has also been a featured speaker before a variety of professional associations, and has taught numerous marketing and advertising classes at local universities.

Besides working with the Community Service Council, Steve currently serves as a member of the Marketing Communications Committee for the Tulsa Area United Way, and is on the advisory board for the Visual Communications program at OSU-Okmulgee. Recently, he was elected to the board of directors for the Tulsa Advertising Federation.

In 1987 Jeff Beal was called to testify before a Congressional Committee about the inequities in access to AIDS-related care for persons living in smaller communities and rural states as compared to the larger cities and urban areas. Conditions here were bleak: he testified that the life expectancy in Oklahoma after a diagnosis with AIDS was just three months – in contrast to the much more hopeful prospects for people on the east and west coasts, with earlier diagnoses and greater access to resources. Dr. Beal was determined to bring state of the art care, clinical trials, and investigational drugs to patients in this region of the country.

In the early years, physicians who were known to care for people with AIDS often risked losing other patients because of the misinformation and fear among the general public about the epidemic. Very few physicians in Tulsa would treat people with HIV and AIDS. Yet when Dr. Beal returned from testifying in Washington, D.C., I turned on the TV and there he was, standing before the camera saying he was a physician who cared for people with AIDS. That took courage and conviction.

At that time, hospital patients admitted with HIV or AIDS related infections had big pink "Isolation/Biohazardous" signs posted on their doors. People would sidestep around those rooms, afraid they might catch it. Dr. Beal insisted that these signs come down. He demanded that people treat his patients with dignity.

He has been called an unrelenting advocate with an indomitable spirit and unfailing commitment, continuing through the years despite the personal toll as his patients’ illnesses worsened and he lost so many of the people he had worked so hard to help. As Janice says,

Dr. Beal understands the ramifications of the HIV disease — not only the physical, but the emotional, mental health challenges associated with living with HIV. He treats the whole person. He has been very generous with his time in the community, working with the Community Service Council’s AIDS Coalition to help develop the whole continuum of services his patients needed.

He has also worked at the state and national levels to bring more resources to Tulsa. Over the years he has helped his patients benefit from over a hundred new drugs for the treatment of HIV — sometimes by traveling elsewhere to participate in clinical trial research, and sometimes through investigational drug research performed in his office. His pioneering spirit in treatment has led to major breakthroughs not only for people living with HIV disease but also for people challenged by other immune system disorders. Through his efforts, the new drugs have been extending both the quality and length of life, and providing hope, for persons living with HIV and AIDS.

Jeff Beal graduated from high school in Kansas City, Missouri, then received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry (1977) and his doctor of medicine degree (1979) from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Between 1980 and 1983 he completed an internship in Family Practice, and an internship and residency in Internal Medicine, at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Tulsa; he was chief resident there from July 1983 to June 1984. He developed and directed the Tulsa Community Internal Medicine Center’s Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic in 1983 and 1984. He has trained residents and medical students since the early 1980’s in areas including sexual history and AIDS, and has been a Clinical Associate Professor since 1996.

He was Medical Director for the City of Tulsa Employee Occupational Medicine Center from 1984-1987. He has had a private practice in internal medicine with a subspecialty in HIV/AIDS care since 1987. For the Tulsa City-County Health Department in 1995 and 1996, he served as Medical Director of the HIV/STD Division and Project Director of the Ryan White Title IIIb Grant Program. His articles on aspects of HIV and AIDS patient care, nutritional issues, and research on patients’ response to specific treatments, have been published in many state, national, and international journals. Dr. Beal is nationally known as an expert speaker, writer, and consultant on HIV/AIDS issues.

Dr. Beal has been involved in a number of HIV/AIDS-related volunteer organizations, including the Oklahoma State Department of Health Medical Advisory Committee, the Tulsa Public Schools HIV/AIDS Advisory Committee, the State of Oklahoma HIV Planning Council, Tulsa C.A.R.E.S., the Community Service Council’s Tulsa Community AIDS Partnership (TCAP), and the Oklahoma State Medical Association Ad Hoc Committee on HIV/AIDS which he has chaired since 1993. He has also been a valued volunteer advisor for other groups and organizations including the Governor’s AIDS Task Force, American Heart Association, Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights, American Cancer Society, and St. John Medical Center.

Dr. Beal has received numerous honors and awards, including recognition by Tulsa C.A.R.E.S. Foodchain, "POZ" Magazine, American Academy of Family Physicians, the State of Oklahoma HIV/AIDS Coalition, the AIDS Coalition of Tulsa, Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Right, Shanti, and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Tulsa.

At Tulsa’s first World AIDS Day gathering, he read the following meditation.  According to those who know him, it reflects his own spirit of hope.

There are trees that seem to wither at the end of autumn,
There are also evergreens.
Among us are people who are like evergreens,
They keep hope alive in themselves
And radiate hope for the rest of us.
They teach us that AIDS is a fightable disease
And that we are powerful people.
They teach us how to be survivors, evergreens.

Jeff Beal is now moving to Florida to be closer to his mother and other family members. As Janice says, "With his credentials, he could have taken on anything. That he picked this cause, and this community, was so fortunate for us."

In grateful appreciation for all he has done for Tulsa, the Community Service Council is honored to present Jeff Beal with a 1999 Dream Catcher Award.  

"Bob Harbison has been an executive at a number of companies and was a great success in the corporate world. But nothing has meant more to him than taking that expertise and using it to benefit young children," says Liz Reece, Director of the Council’s Child Care Resource Center. CSC Executive Director Phil Dessauer adds: "Bob never saw a door he wouldn’t walk through to help kids get ready for school. 'Knowledge,' 'persistence' and 'an inquiring mind' are words often used to describe the keys to his success."

Bob grew up in Kansas City, Kansas, and has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Kansas. He was on the KU Business School faculty for two years and worked at Trans World Airlines before coming to Tulsa in 1973 to join The Williams Companies as Vice President of Finance and Administration for its Pipeline Company. He held two other positions with subsidiaries before becoming Senior Vice President of Administration with the parent company in 1980.

In addition to a busy business career, Bob was active on the boards of several organizations. He chaired the American Red Cross (1977-78), Tulsa Urban League (1979-81), and Private Industry Training Council (1983-85). He was a founding board member of the Tulsa Business-Health Coalition, and served on the United Way Board for eight years, twice chairing the small business fund campaign. Bob served on the American Red Cross national board (1983-89) and was its vice-chair. A long-time runner, Bob was a founder of the Tulsa Run in 1977.

Bob’s non-profit experience led him to make a career change. In 1991 he helped create the Tulsa Children’s Coalition, and he served as its Executive Director until 1998. The Coalition resulted from a Chamber of Commerce initiative which recognized the importance of early childhood programs in the success of children. Of particular concern was the availability of affordable, quality child care for children of low-income families. A model called the School of the 21st Century was developed; it focused services at or near neighborhood elementary schools. The Chamber was joined by United Way, Community Service Council, Tulsa Technology Center, and Tulsa Public Schools in creating this new children’s organization. The United Way provided essential "seed money" through its Venture Grant Program, and continues its support today.

The Coalition secured a large public grant for school-age care and in the fall of 1991 commenced after school programs in five severely low-income elementary schools, selected because they were on Tulsa Public Schools’ "at risk" list.  This program eventually grew to ten before and after school sites and two large summer sites.

In 1997, guided by Bob’s vision, the Coalition led an effort to secure funding to increase capacity for infant and toddler care. The Coalition was successful in getting one-half of all the statewide funding for the Oklahoma 1st Start program for Tulsa, to create a program which served 92 infants and toddlers of poor families with high quality care and other family services. Initially it served children in four centers, including two new centers in low cost housing communities. This program now serves 266 children in several additional centers and a network of ten new family care homes. The Coalition’s 1st Start program was cited in the annual reports of Children’s Defense Fund and Zero to Three for innovation in developing new programs serving young children. A key element of this innovation was Bob’s ability to creatively pool different sources of funds.

Bob describes a highlight of his career: Having the opportunity to help shape legislation "which increased child care quality, affordability, and availability; and which resulted in four year old programs through public schools (1998). Both these pieces of legislation have had enormous impact, state-wide and in Tulsa County. The STARS program provides for higher levels of reimbursement for child care facilities as they meet higher quality standards. 14,000 additional children (a 40% increase) have received subsidized child care since November, 1997. Oklahoma 1st Start has provided quality care for over five hundred additional infants and toddlers. The number of four year olds in school sponsored pre-kindergarten programs has more than doubled (an increase of 9,000), and with a higher rate of reimbursement for better quality. Last year, Tulsa County schools had nearly 3400 four year olds in pre-kindergarten programs, an increase of 400% (2800 children) over the previous year. In child care, the County has seen a 43% increase (nearly 2400 children) in the child care subsidy system since November 1997, as more licensed child care has become affordable for more families." The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy named Bob 1997 Child Advocate of the Year.

In 1998, with Bob's assistance, the Coalition merged with the Community Action Project, consolidating the Coalition’s early childhood programs with Head Start. Bob moved to Lawton, where his wife Jean heads the United Way. He is still quite active in early childhood efforts. He has presented at several conferences and is currently involved in a project with the Office of Child Care to address statewide issues.

In recognition of his outstanding leadership and advocacy for creative approaches to increase the readiness of children to enter school healthy and ready to learn, the Community Service Council is pleased to present a 1999 Dream Catcher Award to Bob Harbison. 

Her many other career accomplishments have included developing joint programs with the Department of Corrections in prisoner sentencing involving dispute resolution through mediation, and creating the first Officers’ Street Survival course in Oklahoma. A skilled communicator and an experienced public speaker, Lynn has shared her expertise through many TV broadcasts, conference presentations, and articles. Her career-related awards have included Officer of the Year from the Optimist Club, and the Chief’s Award. In addition, officers she has supervised have received over forty departmental awards, eight Officer of the Year and six runners-up, illustrating her exemplary skills in team building, personnel management, training, counseling and promotion.

Focusing on community service, Lynn has provided leadership for action on a wide range of issues. A long-time Community Service Council board member, she has chaired or served on many committees — most recently, founding and leading the East Tulsa Prevention Coalition, a new and very active group which is now mobilizing agencies, resources and local residents to plan and act together to address emerging needs. To improve the neighborhood around the University of Tulsa, she helped organize the Kendall Whittier Task Force – honored in 1997 with a League of Cities Award. To stop the tragedy of child abuse, which she so often encountered as a police officer, Lynn was a founder and a long-time state-level leader in Oklahoma’s child abuse prevention initiatives. The Governor appointed her to chair his Child Abuse Task Force’s Legal Law Enforcement Committee. The State Interagency Child Abuse Prevention Task Force honored her with the Marian Jacewitz Award, and the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse honored her with the Donna J. Stone Leadership Award. She served on the Advisory Board for Tulsa’s Child Abuse Network, and on the boards of Stop Child Abuse Oklahoma and Stop Child Abuse America.

Lynn received the Tulsa Volunteer of the Year Award from CSC's Tulsa Volunteer Center. Mary Finley, Director, describes Lynn as "a wonderful role model for volunteerism." A past participant in Leadership Tulsa and Leadership Oklahoma, Lynn is active in the Executive Women’s Forum, the Tulsa Women’s Foundation, the Tulsa Sports Commission, and the Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities advisory board. She has recently been president of Hillcrest Associates, vice-president of NCCJ, president of Resonance, and president-elect of the University of Tulsa Alumni Board. She has received the Service to Mankind Award from Sertoma, the Pinnacle Award from the Tulsa Commission on the Status of Women, the Liberty Bell Award from Tulsa County Bar Association, and the Paragon Award for Leadership in Action from Leadership Tulsa. She has also been named one of the Outstanding Young Women of America, and has been listed several times in "Who’s Who of American Women."

Alice reflects, "Lynn doesn’t take no for an answer. She doesn’t see barriers or obstacles; where other people see walls, she sees curtains. No matter how demanding the task, she stays focused. She understands the community, and she goes the extra mile to reach out to people. With fierce dedication, and with a desire for excellence coupled with compassion, she pushes every envelope, always reaching for more."

According to CSC Executive Director Phil Dessauer, "Lynn represents the best of what the Council has to offer: a strong volunteer leader, working in partnership with professional staff, bringing people together so all can make their contributions. She has a tremendous commitment to volunteering and encouraging others to step forward and take responsibility for getting things done for Tulsa."

This award recognizes Rick Palazzo and Jan Creveling for dedicated leadership in system change ... building school-community partnerships on behalf of children and their families through the Tulsa Alliance for Families.

CSC Executive Director Phil Dessauer says, "The Alliance represents the health and human services delivery system of the future: in neighborhoods; reaching out to link community resources, families, and schools together."

Rick Palazzo, representing Tulsa Public Schools, and Jan Creveling, representing the Community Service Council — along with TAF’s many partners, staff, and participating families — have created an innovative partnership that is making a difference in the lives of hundreds of Tulsa families.

In August, 1993, President Clinton signed into law the Family Preservation and Family Support Services Act, Public-Law 103-66. The Act represented the first major Child Welfare reform legislation in more than a decade. It provided funding to encourage and stimulate broad system reform in support of services to families. Over a five-year period, Oklahoma received more than $10 million to assess and make changes in statewide and local service delivery to children and their families.

An Executive Council was organized by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to act as the decision-making body for providing direction and determining policy for Oklahoma’s five-year State Plan. Phil Dessauer represented the Metropolitan Human Services Commission on the Council and helped develop the vision, guiding principles, goals, and measurable objectives for a "request for proposals" process which allowed local communities to apply for the funding.

The underlying philosophy of the Family Preservation/Family Support grant program was to provide preventive, comprehensive and community-based services to children and their families. It was based on the belief that communities have the best understanding of their needs and should be empowered to organize a local delivery system to meet their needs.

In January, 1995, thirty organizations came together to lay the groundwork for a single grant application to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services for these federal funds. The Metropolitan Human Services Commission, staffed by the Community Service Council, convened the planning process and Tulsa Public Schools served as the applicant agency. Commission members John Selph and Judy Wyatt led the planning process. In March of 1996, the proposal was approved and the Tulsa Alliance for Families (TAF) was launched.

The Alliance chose predominantly lower-income neighborhoods surrounding Eugene Field/Riverview Park and MarkTwain/Sandy Park elementary schools and public housing communities for initial implementation. Family Support Teams, with representatives from fourteen TAF Program Partners, were formed in these two neighborhoods to provide support to several hundred families and children. The two teams provide outreach to all families to promote prevention and early access to help and more extensive outreach and case management to families with critical needs.  This neighborhood-based, family-centered network of services uses a school-linked, team approach to enhance the well-being of families by building on their strengths and filling gaps in their access to and use of services available to them.

The Community Service Council (CSC) serves as the central coordinating body for program administration, planning, implementation, data collection/evaluation, resource/policy development, and training. Tulsa Public Schools is the public entity providing leadership in partnership with CSC, Department of Human Services, Domestic Violence Intervention Services, Family & Children Services, Parent Child Center of Tulsa, Margaret Hudson Program, Metropolitan Tulsa Urban League, Tulsa Police Department, Tulsa City/County Health Department, Tulsa Housing Authority, and Tulsa Area United Way through the TulsaWORKS Venture Grant. TAF has been working over the last three years to facilitate and fine-tune the start-up and continuation of Tulsa Alliance for Families. Regular reports on TAF’s progress and needs are made to the Metropolitan Human Services Commission.

Rick Palazzo is Director of Alternative Education, Counseling and Social Services for Tulsa Public Schools. According to his colleague Jan Creveling,

Rick Palazzo has been the key advocate within Tulsa Public Schools and the voice of TAF at the negotiating table. He has provided the leadership to guide, direct, explain, and transform social services within Tulsa Public Schools. During the critical times of resource development, he intensified his participation in order to mobilize the needed TPS forces.  His sense of humor and positive attitude have enabled him to work with a diverse network of partners. He has promoted the need to continually communicate with his colleagues about TAF and he strives to keep them informed about the various developments and policy issues that need a TPS response. TAF would not be at the point of existence today without the significant contribution of Tulsa Public Schools and the effective representation of Rick Palazzo.

A native Tulsan, he earned degrees in psychology at Oklahoma State University, specializing in the field of School and Educational psychology. For twelve years, he served as the Executive Director of Street School, an alternative education program in Tulsa. In 1995, this program received the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Award for the state’s top dropout prevention program. He founded the Oklahoma Association for Alternative Education and twice served as its president. In 1998, he was honored by the State Department of Education and the Oklahoma Alternative Education Association, and received the annual Janis Updike Walker Award for his outstanding contributions to alternative education in Oklahoma.

His gubernatorial and legislative appointments include the Coordinating Council for Special Services to Children and Youth, Tulsa Human Rights Commission, and the Oklahoma Alcohol and Drug Prevention/Education Advisory Council. He also currently serves on the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce Positive School Environment Committee, and the Tulsa Alliance for Youth Development. He chairs the Leadership Tulsa Youth Committee.

For the past three years Rick has been a special consultant to the State Superintendent of Education for the implementation of over three hundred new Oklahoma Alternative Education Academies. A certified School Psychologist, he has worked in both urban and rural settings as a school psychologist and family therapist. He is currently completing his Doctorate in Educational Administration and Higher Education.

Phil Dessauer, CSC Executive Director, notes that "Rick has demonstrated a special ability to link a large institution with community resources to greatly improve opportunities for children and families. For this ability, and for his long-time commitment to young people, he is greatly respected and appreciated."

Jan says, "Once in a great while, the joy of actualization equals the thrill of anticipation. Such has been the case of working through the planning, implementation, and continuation of Tulsa Alliance for Families with Rick Palazzo!"

In her professional roles through the Council and through her many volunteer leadership roles, Jan Creveling has had more than twenty years of experience dealing with child welfare issues and child advocacy efforts at the local, state, and federal levels. A senior planner with Community Service Council, Jan is founding Director of the Tulsa Alliance for Families. In this role she directs and coordinates Alliance activities, builds partnerships, produces resources, advocates for public policy, and gathers knowledge to help build the family support movement.

In 1988-89, as a CSC planner for children and youth services, she helped create the Caring Community, a holistic teen pregnancy prevention middle school funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. From 1990-96 she directed the Council’s Area Prevention Resource Center (APRC). With her leadership, the APRC’s 1993 "Underage Drinking Report" won a Noteworthy Program and Practice Award from the Southwest Regional Center for Drug Free Schools. In 1993 Jan was honored with the Department of Justice FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award for Oklahoma. She was named Outstanding Prevention Professional in 1995 by the Oklahoma Association of Prevention Professionals and Advocates.

Jan graduated from Donart High School in Stillwater and earned her BA degree from Oklahoma State University. Over the years she has held volunteer leadership positions in many Tulsa organizations including Holland Hall, Friends of the Library, Margaret Hudson Program, the Tulsa Sales Tax Overview Committee, American Theater Company, the Early Childhood Information Coalition, Theater Tulsa, Southminster Presbyterian Church, Tulsa Opera, Inc., and the Tulsa Metropolitan Urban League Advisory Board.

From 1973-90 she was active in the Junior League of Tulsa. Her League service included overseeing the League’s community project development as Community Vice President, and chairing the task force which developed the Child Abuse Network (CAN) Advocacy Center, a founding member of the National Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers. Jan went on to serve as the National Network’s President and helped draft the legislation supporting development of Centers nation-wide.

Jan chaired the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth (1994-96); was Tulsa’s regional coordinator for the Oklahoma Planning and Coordination Board for Services to Children and Youth; helped draft the Children’s Agenda 2000; and chaired the Needsmet committee researching maximizing federal funds.

She participated in the National Governors’ Association planning initiative to improve the status of families; was a caucus leader for the Child Welfare League of America Southern Regional Caucus; chaired the Tulsa Area Child Abuse Coalition; and helped planned the CWLA regional conference.

She was selected by DHS/Child Welfare to serve on the National Governor’s Association Maximizing Federal Funds Team; was appointed by the County Commission to select child abuse prevention grantees through the Jury/Witness Fee Disbursement Committee; and was appointed by Governor Keating to the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth.

Phil Dessauer notes Jan’s "quiet determination" in building partnerships and creating innovative approaches on behalf of children and families. "Jan has a clear vision of what needs to happen, and a gracious and sensitive way of engaging others to make it happen."

Jan’s dedicated, tireless work behind-the-scenes has been a key factor in the success of the Tulsa Alliance for Families model — a model which will guide and direct much of what occurs in helping Tulsa’s children and families in the coming decade. 

Tulsa is a better place because of Nancy McDonald. Her outstanding community leadership has been broad in scope and deep in impact. Nancy's work spans several decades, many issues and organizations, a variety of volunteer and professional roles, and contributions at local, regional and national levels.

Her service to and through the Community Service Council stands alongside her many other positions, accomplishments, and well-deserved honors through the years.

A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Nancy began her career as a medical technologist. During the years when her children were growing up in Tulsa her interests turned to education and youth development: she was very active as a PTA volunteer and leader, and served Girl Scouts for over twenty years as a scout leader and officer.

Working for Tulsa Public Schools from 1975 through 1990, Nancy greatly expanded community involvement in public education as Director of School Volunteers and as Director of Business Community Resources. She helped create and implement Tulsa’s magnet school concept, an innovation which enhanced educational quality while also bringing about desegregation. She has been a featured speaker at many local, state and national conferences for teachers, administrators and leaders in education, and has authored articles which appeared in several professional journals. She became a Senior Trainer for the National Association of Partners in Education, and developed their models for strategic planning and mentoring. In the early 90’s she was Marketing Manager for the Amoco Science Enrichment Program.

Nancy has long been known and respected for her volunteer leadership and service in many fields including children’s issues, social and health services, education, the arts, and civic involvement. Locally, she has been a board member for many Tulsa organizations including Timothy-Varick Child Care Center, YWCA, Goals for Tulsa, Tulsa Urban League, the Arts and Humanities Council, Special Olympics, Hillcrest, Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights, League of Women Voters, Margaret Hudson Program, and Great Expectations. She was the first woman on the boards of Tulsa Boys’ Home and the YMCA Thornton Family Y.

She has been an advisor to the Junior League of Tulsa and Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights. She was among the founders of Living Arts, the Tulsa Council of International Visitors, Leadership Tulsa, and the Child Care Resource Center. She was appointed by the Governor to the Rogers State College Board of Regents, and appointed by the Mayor to the board of the Tulsa Community Action Agency. She has been president of the Washington High School PTA, the Tulsa Boys’ Home Junior Auxiliary, Children’s Day Nursery Auxiliary, and Rainbow Village.

At the national level, Nancy served on the board of the National Association of School Volunteers for eight years and was vice president for two years. She founded the Tulsa chapter of PFLAG – Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays — and went on to serve on the national PFLAG board, where she was president and is now on the National Advisory Committee. She has met with President Clinton to discuss the needs of gay youth, safe schools, and civil rights legislation; and she has testified before a Congressional committee on the Defense of Marriage Act and the Employment Non Discrimination Act.

Nancy’s list of honors and awards is long and distinguished. She has been NCCJ’s Tulsa Woman of the Year; Sertoma Citizen of the Year; Volunteer of the Year for Tulsa Boys’ Home, the Oklahoma Association of Social Workers, and Tulsa Oklahoma for Human Rights; and the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Administrator of the Year. She has won the Oklahoma Governor’s Award for Citizen Involvement, the KOTV Spirit of Oklahoma Award, the ACLU Human Rights Award, and the Phi Delta Kappa Citizen Award. She was honored by President and Mrs. Bush as one of fourteen outstanding Directors of Community Involvement and Support for Public Schools. And she has received the Girl Scouts Thanks Badge.

Most recently, Nancy has been serving on the boards of National Council of Community and Justice, Planned Parenthood, the Oklahoma Memorial Trust Foundation, the Patrick Henry Elementary School Foundation, and Tulsa Philharmonic. Since 1990, through Resources for Education, she has been providing consultation and training for groups nation-wide to further business involvement in education.

Nancy has been an integral part of the work of the Community Service Council for almost twenty-five years – as a community volunteer on a number of issue-focused task forces; as an active board member and chair of several committees; and as President. She was part of the Council’s original child care planning group in the early 1980s, addressing children’s needs for before- and after-school care. She was active in the Tulsa Association of Volunteer Administrators, and the Tulsa Coalition for Parenting Education. She has furthered the Council’s work in resource development and community awareness.

Nancy was a leader in the group which first shaped an expanded role for the Council in public policy. Through the Public Policy Committee she helped the Council develop relationships with legislators and provide them with valuable information, particularly on children’s needs and related initiatives. She was a primary advocate for Children First, Oklahoma’s successful nurse home visitation program for new parents. She also provided volunteer leadership for the creation of the Children’s Consortium, a local advocacy group working on behalf of children.

Nancy has greatly contributed to how well the Tulsa community assists persons living with HIV and AIDS, through her work with the AIDS Coalition of Tulsa and new initiatives including Tulsa C.A.R.E.S. She has been described as "a bridge builder for people who have no voice or are too afraid to speak."

Phil Dessauer, the Council’s Executive Director and a long-time colleague of Nancy’s, writes:

Nancy has been involved with the Community Service Council as a volunteer and/or board member for almost 25 years. She was working on fixing child care back then, long before early brain development became a household term and ‘Beethoven for Babies’ was a best seller.

But then Nancy is always there first, seeing needs and opportunities to make things better before the rest of us do. I guess that’s one of the reasons she has been hooked on the Council for so long: It gives her lots of chances to do what she does best — help lead the way. If you asked any long-term Council board member who they think embodies the spirit of the Council most, without hesitation I believe most would say Nancy. She sets an example that challenges us all to do better than we ever thought we could, and for that gift to each of us, we say thank you!

At last year’s annual meeting, Nancy concluded her outgoing President’s remarks with these words: "I love Tulsa ... and I know you love Tulsa ... and collectively, we -- as individuals, as agency personnel, and as citizens -- will continue to make Tulsa a wonderful, caring city for all. Thank you for the privilege of service to the Council."

The Community Service Council is grateful for Nancy McDonald’s many contributions to the Tulsa community and to our work. It is an honor to present her with the 1999 David Bernstein Distinguished Leadership Award.