Our Board

Ray A. Owens, Ph.D.
Senior Pastor, Metropolitan Baptist Church (Board Chairman)

Jolie Fredieu
Women’s Self-Defense Instructor, E.L.I.T.E. Self Defense LLC, former Early Childhood Educator

Eleanor Payne, Ed.D.
Retired, former Associate Dean of Business & Technology, Tulsa Community College

Alexander Quince
Journalist and former Emmy-nominated News Director, KTUL-TV (ABC Tulsa)

Carl Bracy
Retired, former Division Executive at State Farm Insurance Company

James Furch
Retired, former Principal, Booker T. Washington High School, 40 years experience in Education

Ashley Philippsen
Founding Program Director, LEAD North, a leadership development program

Patricia Samuels
Retired, Community Volunteer

Carlton Buford
President/Chief Economist, America First – Competitive Market Economic Advocacy

Paul Johnson
Vice President, Corporate Banking,
BOK Financial Corporation, Tulsa Ballet Board Member

Alicia Odewale, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Tulsa

Jabar Shumate
Vice President, University of Oklahoma, former Oklahoma State Senator and State Representative