About ImpactTulsa
Aligning resources to collectively build a more equitable future for Tulsa-area children.
Our Mission
ImpactTulsa is a collective impact organization that turns data into systemic change by convening community sectors through the shared vision that all children in Tulsa receive every opportunity to succeed, from cradle to career.
History
ImpactTulsa was founded with the dedication of leaders from across sectors, including business, education, faith, nonprofit, civic, and philanthropy, who came together with a strong purpose – improving the lives of Tulsa’s youth through accessible, high-quality education.
Since 2014, ImpactTulsa has been on a path to build better student outcomes and alleviate the systemic barriers that prevent every child, young person, and family from realizing their full potential.
Our Values
We center integrity by being transparent, reliable, and accountable with our community and our partners. Integrity is the defining quality of our team and our work. We know that transparency breeds trust, and we maintain our commitment to our mission regardless of external circumstances.
We recognize this work requires a deep commitment to examining the history and legacies of unfair treatment, injustice, and inequality. This means we must not only critically examine the ways in which external institutions and structures operate, but also critically examine our own internal systems, processes, workplace cultures and individual mindsets and behaviors. We continually strive to ensure our commitment to issues of equity and inclusion, at the systems level, is reflected and centered in all our work.
We value the expertise of community and youth and are dedicated to shifting power and decision-making to people most impacted, both in our internal work and the work we model for our partners. We hold ourselves and partners accountable for taking impactful action on community and youth priorities.
We foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, internally and externally, through convening across sectors and collaborating with partners to drive social change. Systems change work cannot be done alone and requires resource sharing, consensus building, accountability, diverse perspectives and expertise.
We embed data processes and analysis throughout everything we do as a complement to community knowledge, experience, and data. As such, we use data as the thread that weaves together all of our work. While it is necessary to affect and measure change, data is not sufficient alone to create effective change. We must turn data into systemic change by catalyzing community action.
Strategic Focus Areas
Collective Action Toward Systemic Change
ImpactTulsa believes the most meaningful way to influence systemic change is through data-driven and equitable collective action.
As a collective action organization, ImpactTulsa brings community partners together and facilitates cross-sector dialogue to create a shared vision and discover solutions to societal problems. ImpactTulsa engages 21 school districts, 9 postsecondary institutions, and a variety of non-profit, business, and civic agencies across Tulsa in a continuous exchange of ideas and resources.
The StriveTogether Network
WATCH THE VIDEOStriveTogether is building a world where a child’s potential isn’t dictated by race, ethnicity, zip code
or circumstance.
ImpactTulsa is part of StriveTogether, a national network of communities work and evolve together to advance equity so local success stories can become the reality for every child, everywhere.
StriveTogether communities transform failing systems with a collaborative improvement methodology that directs data from small changes to inform adjustments in the community. Each place using our StriveTogether Theory of Action™ framework is shaping the systems that impact opportunity, while learning from what’s working elsewhere in our network. The results give us reason to believe the success of every, child cradle to career, is possible.
ImpactTulsa is guided by the same principles of engaging the community, advancing equity, developing a culture of continuous learning and improvement, and leveraging existing resources to promote the high-quality education of students across the Tulsa area.
Investors
The enduring support ImpactTulsa receives from our investors allows us to enact meaningful, systemic change across Tulsa.
