Today I’m launching a new series about my 35-year career in communications and nonprofit leadership. The work has included journalism, public relations, public affairs, public information, advocacy, and public policy, primarily in Oklahoma. As a member of Generation X, I spent most of those years focused on execution, not documentation. This series is a record of the work.
Oklahoma’s Rural Economic Action Plan
I thought I would have written a dozen books by now. It doesn’t look like I’m ever going to have the time. So I’ve been writing pieces of my career memoir on LinkedIn and Facebook and have decided to share some of them here. Mostly for my kids, so they know I haven’t actually been making a living on Canva for 35 years.
This is my REAP story.
I began lobbying for Oklahoma’s Rural Economic Action Plan around 2010. I was working as contract executive director for the Oklahoma Association of Regional Councils, and REAP was in trouble. It was always in trouble, always on the chopping block during appropriations. My board told me cuts were inevitable, there would never be an increase, and the best we could hope for were modest reductions.
But the REAP story had never really been told, so I set out to tell it.
Over the course of a year, I toured as many REAP projects as possible. I was pretty handy with my Nikon D60 back then and photographed dozens of projects so I could show legislators how much REAP was helping rural Oklahomans. The projects touched me deeply. It was during this time that I truly fell in love with Rural Oklahoma.
REAP is a state-funded grant program that provides small Oklahoma communities with financial support for infrastructure and public improvement projects. It focuses on towns and rural areas with populations under 7,000, helping fund water and wastewater systems, streets, fire stations, community centers, and other essential public facilities that strengthen rural economic development. It is especially critical in towns and hamlets with limited sales tax revenue.
Some of the projects I remember most:
💡 Reflective street signs in Forest Park and Harrah.
🛝 A playground in Nicoma Park.
🛣️ Road striping in rural Oklahoma County.
🛑 Guardrails in rural Logan County.
🚰 A water tower in Lexington.
🚦 Railroad crossing signs in Luther.
🔥 Fire hydrants in rural Logan County.
💧 A lift station in Mulhall.
💡Reflective addressing in Slaughterville so EMS could find people in trouble. One person had died when medics could not find the right house in the dark.
And, finally, 🚨storm sirens in Orlando. Before that siren went up, residents told me that when a 🌪️ tornado was coming, someone would get in their vehicle and drive around town yelling out the window for everyone to take cover.
My design skills were limited back then, so I created my report in PowerPoint and exported it to PDF. The photography made up for what I lacked in design. I delivered the report on USB drives to every legislator because we could not afford to print it.
That year, REAP received an unprecedented increase in funding. I was so happy. I did what they told me could not be done.
During the years I had influence over REAP, we changed grant requirements so the historic Black town of Meridian could qualify for a road project. Every time it rained or snowed, the town’s 100 residents struggled to reach the main road. 🌧️❄️ That small project remains one of the biggest highlights of my career.
I made a poster collage of some of the REAP photos I took. The road striping is still my favorite. It looked like the double yellow lines ended exactly where the funding ran out.
This is the first post in my new series highlighting career memoirs. Thank you for your interest and support.