Mayor Nichols Creates Office of Children, Youth and Families

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TULSA, Okla. — “Ready to get to work,” newly elected Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols said after signing an executive order creating the city’s first Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth and Families.

The office will address issues like the over 4,000 Tulsa children who face eviction annually, which impacts school attendance and long-term success. The goal is to place 15,000 more children on a path to economic mobility by 2030.Impact Tulsa, a nonprofit, adopted this model and announced the same goal last fall.

Impact Tulsa’s Ashley Phillipsen Takes the Lead in New City Initiative

Additionally, Impact Tulsa, led by Executive Director Ashley Phillipsen, will staff the office. Impact Tulsa’s staff of 16 will serve as the operating arm of the office, with additional support from city staff.

“This isn’t just about government or nonprofits making decisions in isolation,” Phillipsen said. “It’s about building this table where everyone has a seat, ensuring that policies and programs are designed with and not just for the communities we serve.”

Nichols praised Impact Tulsa’s cradle-to-career focus since 2014 and introduced Ashley Phillipsen as the new Director of the Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth, and Families. 

“The Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth and Families, is a necessary step forward, ensuring that we don’t just address the symptoms, but we build the systems that support every child and family in Tulsa,” Phillipsen said. “This is about ensuring that education, housing, workforce, development, and family support systems are coordinated, responsive, and designed to remove barriers, not reinforce them.”

Breaking Silos: A Data-Driven Approach to Change

The initiative aims to break down silos, use data-driven decision-making, and focus on housing stability, education, and workforce development. This office will take action and is not an advisory board. 

Another key component of the Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth, and Families is the creation of the Tulsa Children’s Cabinet. 

“This cabinet will foster greater cooperation and collaboration across all sectors. It will be made up of city departments, nonprofit agencies, schools, and other stakeholders,” Nichols said.

The office uses a mixed partnership approach to funding. The city will provide $115,000 and raise additional funds. Meanwhile, Nichols emphasized the need for intentionality in addressing these issues. He highlighted the role of community partners, schools, and faith-based institutions in reversing negative statistics.

“This is an opportunity for all of us to engage for all those who are in the business of improving outcomes, for all those who are in the business of making sure this is the very best place to raise and educate a child,” Nichols said.

Collaboration is Key: Deputy Mayor Reyes on Tulsa’s New Approach

Deputy Mayor Crystal Reyes will oversee the office. Furthermore, she emphasized the role of nonprofit philanthropy and school district leaders. Reyes also highlighted the importance of welcoming immigrant families to improve child outcomes. She stressed breaking down silos and increasing collaboration for success.

“A way to break down silos is building a table, and so that’s what the children’s cabinet will be,” Reyes said. “Definition is that it’s a formal, sustained coordinating structure composed of agency and other stakeholder leaders to advance more effective, equitable and efficient services for children.”

Moreover, Phillipsen stressed the importance of aligning data, policy, and cross-sector collaboration to drive real, sustainable change.

“It is a sustained commitment to alignment, accountability, and collective action, and gratefully, we already have the foundation,” Phillipsen said. “Tulsa is a city that values that data-driven decision making.”

Office of Children, Youth and Families Commits to Accountability

The office will release reports on their outcomes through the City of Tulsa, just as Impact Tulsa does annually.

“We, at our council retreat, talked about a lot of things,” Nichols stated during today’s press conference. “On that list was our city-wide commitment to children and youth, and I think it’s really important that every citizen knows that this is not just one person or a couple of people in this building who have this commitment. It is everybody making decisions on behalf of citizens, and even outside this building. I think this room is a reflection of people all across this community who feel the same way. And I think it’s also important to say today is the starting line.”