2014 Annual Report

Tulsa Partners Inc.

Annual Meeting

October 23, 2014

The Vision and Mission of Tulsa Partners, Inc.

Vision: To create a disaster-resistant and sustainable community.

Mission statement: To mobilize all segments of the population to build a

disaster- resistant, sustainable community. By building public/private

partnerships, Tulsa Partners Inc. will:

• Promote and advocate for sustainability and disaster resistance;

• Provide education programs;

• Develop mentoring relationships;

• Recognize and celebrate community efforts; and

• Act as a clearing house for expertise and information.

ON THE ‘ABOUT US’ PAGE OF OUR WEBSITE

For great photos related to this Annual Report, see the 2014 Annual

Report Presentation on the “About Us” page at www.tulsapartners.org.

1. Program Report- Disaster Resistant Business Council

Tulsa Partners’ Disaster Resistant Business Council (DRBC) is a public/private partnership

designed to educate businesses and nonprofits about the need for emergency and

continuity planning, to offer networking opportunities for those interested in business

emergency and continuity planning, and to assist in promoting the critical role of

businesses and nonprofits in a community’s disaster resiliency. Hosted by Tulsa Partners

and chaired by David Hall with State Farm Insurance, representatives serving on the

Council this past year include the American Red Cross, Bank of Oklahoma, FEMA,

Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), the LSU Stephenson Disaster

Management Institute, Meshek and Associates, Oklahoma Small Business Development

Center, Titan Data Services, TRC Disaster Solutions, the Tulsa City County Health

Department, and the Tulsa Regional Chamber.

A Day Without Business 2014

As a part of their support of recovery efforts in Moore and other communities impacted

by the May 2013 Tornados, State Farm generously provided seed funding for Tulsa

Partners to have our 2014 A Day Without Business Symposium. Although our Oklahoma

City venue was cancelled in March 2014 due to inadequate registrations, over 100

people attended the Symposium in Tulsa on April 3, coming from the Tulsa, Oklahoma

City and other parts of the state. Oklahoma Emergency Manager Albert Ashwood

provided the keynote address, and a panel with representatives from such cities as

Moore OK and Boulder CO provided a sense of how disasters affect small businesses in a

community. Evaluations for the conference ranged in the 4 to 5 area, 5 being excellent.

Oklahoma Strong-Economic Resilience

Thanks to a partnership with the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center, David Hall was invited to participate in a series of steering committee meetings hosted by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and Oklahoma Emergency Management in conjunction with the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The meetings concerned developing a strategy for building economic resilience in central Oklahoma and across the state. The initiative has created strategy documents and is working on ways to implement these resilience-building activities.

Presentations and National/International Collaborations

David Hall has continued to offer presentations on business continuity planning on

behalf of the DRBC to local chambers of commerce and at national conferences. The

conferences include the National Tornado Summit in Oklahoma City, the Florida

Governors Hurricane Conference, and the Sustainable Disaster Recovery Conference.

David presented to an Oklahoma State University class for entrepreneurs about business

continuity. Tulsa Partners DRBC was approached by the Green Country Treasury

Management Association on presenting about business continuity and facilitating a

table top exercise, which David did. Tulsa Partners DRBC was also approached by the

International Economic Development Council on assisting with their pilot business

continuity training being done in North Carolina, using A Day Without Business as a

model. David Hall provided assistance, and the IEDC included Tulsa Partners DRBC and

the IBHS Open for Business tool kit as best practice models in a small business

preparedness guide. ( http://restoreyoureconomy.org/engaging-small-businesses-

disaster-prep-guide/)

2. Program Report-Language and Culture Bank

A grassroots network of multicultural and multilingual groups, the Tulsa Partners

Language and Culture Bank (LCB) works with these many communities to help their

members prepare for disasters, and to help all people receive emergency

communications in a way they can understand. The current co-chairs of the LCB Steering

Committee are Diana Higgins with TSHA, an organization that works with the Deaf and

Hard of Hearing community, and Rev. Leonard Busch, pastor of Church of the Good

Shepherd Lutheran Church. Other groups represented on the steering committee

include Ability Resources, Catholic Charities, Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps, Tulsa

Community College, Tulsa City-County Health Department, Tulsa Global Alliance, Tulsa

Police Department, Tulsa Public Schools and the YWCA, as well as individual

representatives of various multi-cultural communities.

Booths

Working closely with volunteers from the Medical Reserve Corps, the LCB has provided

booths at venues such as the Asian American Festival and at the upcoming bi-annual

Kids World event in November 2014, showing children and their families the

preparedness videos in multiple languages developed with Tulsa Community College

Center for Creativity. Also used is an activity board showing how animals prepare for

severe weather, and offering information in English, Spanish and Burmese.

Community Outreach

The LCB Steering Committee has been supporting our member organizations as they

host events that related to emergency preparedness, such as a recent meeting of the

Liberian community to discuss Ebola, a Deaf Town Hall with first responders to discuss

ways to improve communications, or a public health fair for the Burmese community.

The YWCA and Catholic Charities hold regularly scheduled Citizenship or Immigrant

orientation classed that include emergency preparedness information about tornados,

flash floods and other hazards. The City of Tulsa is including the work of LCB groups in its

Program for Public Information for the National Flood Insurance Program Community

Rating System and the city Hazard Mitigation Plan (see below under Public Information

and Community Engagement).

Tulsa Global Alliance provided an International Fellow internship with Tulsa Partners for

Salmanuddin Shah from Pakistan in late October-early November 2013.

Tulsa Partners Language and Culture Bank has also been in contact with other parts of

the state on multi-cultural outreach. A representative from Jesus Christ of Latter Day

Saints shared their translation work in the Oklahoma City area after the May 2013

tornado. Tulsa Partners Board President Megan Quickle and Executive Director Tim

Lovell met in August with James Tittle of the American Red Cross to talk about

coordinating outreach activities for the Burmese and Iraqi communities in the central

and western parts of the state, including preparedness videos similar to the ones we did

with Tulsa Community College Center for Creativity, which may develop over the coming

year.

Emergency Messaging

One of the areas of focus for Tulsa Partners LCB is making sure everyone can receive

timely emergency messages in a form they can understand. The City of Tulsa is no

longer subscribing to the TulsaAlert emergency messaging system, set up in 2013, that

would send emails, texts and phone calls to people in emergency and non-emergency

situations. It was initially only designed to provide messages in English, although there

was discussion of identifying ways to expand the service to other languages at a later

date. Tulsa Partners Language and Culture Bank will continue to work on how

emergency messaging to non-English speakers could be implemented in Tulsa.

3. Program Report-Millennium Center for Green and Safe Living

The Millennium Center Project is a collaborative venture between Tulsa Partners and

other entities to help people live safely and in harmony with nature. Using a “center

without walls” approach of education and collaborative demonstration projects, the

eventual goal is to create a permanent exhibit to promote disaster-resistant and

sustainable living. The steering committee is co-chaired by Michelle Barnett of Enercon

Services and Graham Brannin with the City of Tulsa. The steering committee members

represent the disciplines of architecture, engineering, construction, mortgage lending,

hazard mitigation, stormwater management, low impact development (LID) and

sustainability.

Low Impact Development

One of the endeavors that Tulsa Partners participated in through its Millennium Center

program was the Green Country Sustainability Forum. Members of the Millennium

Center Steering Committee such as Michelle Barnett and Graham Brannin, Mary Kell

with the City of Tulsa, and Tim Lovell were participants in developing this Forum’s Green

Country Low Impact Development Design Competition and Great Plains LID Symposium

on April 3, 2014. Dr. Jason Vogel with OSU, another Millennium Center Steering

Committee member, chaired and led this endeavor. The competition was aimed at

educating design professionals, built environment decision makers and the public on the

positive impacts of LID, with the symposium providing an educational venue to discuss

topics related to Low Impact Development (LID) in the Great Plains of the United States.

Many positive outcomes were realized including a planned and funded LID project to be

completed at the base of the famous Tulsa Tough Crybaby Hill.

Oklahoma Strong--Construction

The Millennium Center has continued to support the use of higher building standards,

working in conjunction with the City of Tulsa’s Stormwater Drainage and Hazard

Mitigation Advisory Board, the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS),

the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, the National Storm Shelter Association, and other

programs promoting stronger residential construction. Support for this effort is present

in the City of Tulsa Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan.

To expand the use of safe and sustainable construction, State Farm Insurance has

provided grant funding to Tulsa Partners to work in central Oklahoma on creating a

brochure with information on structural weatherization retrofits and new construction

technologies for those people in areas where federal disaster declarations have

occurred after the May 2013 tornadoes and including individuals of low to moderate

income. The information is to help make their homes and property more resilient in the

face of future disasters. To be completed in March 2015, this information will also be

shared with other parts of the state.

Presentations and other collaborations

To increase our public outreach efforts, the Millennium Center agreed to sponsor a six

week class with the Osher Life Long Learning Institute at OSU called Green and Safe:

Rethinking Preparedness. The course description-- "Wind, fire, rain,

earthquakes...Oklahoma's got it all! We also have state-of-the-art materials and

construction techniques that allow us to build low impact, disaster-resistant homes and

businesses that will protect us from the environment while protecting the environment

from us. Guest speakers from Tulsa Partners Millennium Center for Green and Safe

Living shared their special insights on how you can live safely and in harmony with

nature while exercising wise stewardship of natural resources." Because of the success

of this six week speaker series, Tulsa Partners intends in the coming year to create a

speakers bureau for a variety of green and safe topics.

Both Graham Brannin and Tim Lovell have been attending monthly meetings of the City

of Tulsa Environmental Education Committee to coordinate with other environmental

education programs. They also participated with others in a recent meeting with the

Kresge Foundation, documenting the City of Tulsa and Tulsa Partners’ best practice

collaborative work in stormwater management and hazard mitigation / climate

adaptation. The interviews will be included in an upcoming Kresge Foundation report

on Tulsa and other communities. Graham and Tim have also participated with a city

technical team on the development of grant applications for community resilience. In

January, they participated in the Georgetown Climate Center Workshop on Adaptation

in the Water Sector in January. Finally, the Millennium Center Steering Committee

continues to talk with other local entities on potential collaborative ventures for

educational displays, with the eventual goal of a permanent exhibit site.

In Memoriam

On March 12, 2014, Donald Francis McCarthy died at the age of 85. Don McCarthy was

the creator of the Millennium House, which was designed to be energy efficient,

disaster resistant, have healthy indoor air quality, be handicapped accessible, and be for

people of moderate means. Don initially received a small grant from Tulsa Project

Impact, Tulsa Partners’ predecessor organization, to do initial designs for this house, and

our Millennium Center program is named for his work. The Don McCarthy Millennium

Award for sustainability given out by Tulsa Partners is also named for him. He will be

missed, but his legacy continues.

4. Special Collaborative Initiatives

a. Natural Hazard Mitigation Association and Resilient Neighbors Network

Through a Cooperative Technical Partnership agreement with FEMA, the Natural Hazard

Mitigation Association (NHMA) launched a special program called Resilient Neighbors

Network (RNN) to link together grassroots communities working to become safer,

disaster-resilient, and sustainable. NHMA is working with ten pilot communities,

including Tulsa, to create a peer-to-peer sharing network, so grassroots communities

can work together directly to strengthen and expand local hazard-mitigation programs.

Bill Robison and Graham Brannin serve as the local representatives for this network,

Tulsa Partners was subcontracted by NHMA to provide support services to the

development of the network through September 2014.

The work included a retreat in Broomfield Colorado in June 2014, and a special research

project that sought to identify whether people purchase residential safe rooms without

the incentive of federal grant funds, and if so, why.

b. Public Information and Community Engagement

Tulsa Partners continues to work with a number of entities in the Tulsa area on the

question of community outreach and engagement:

In August 2014, Tulsa Partners was invited by the City of Tulsa and Flanagan

and Associates to complete a Program for Public Information (PPI) for the City

of Tulsa. This was to meet a requirement of the National Flood Insurance

Program’s Community Rating System, and would build on a public information

and community engagement plan previously developed for the City of Tulsa

Hazard Mitigation Plan. Although initially focused on flooding, the intent, as

noted by City of Tulsa’s project manager Bill Robison, is to expand the PPI into

a multi-hazard document applicable to Tulsa’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.

Tulsa Partners continues to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and

Oklahoma Silver Jackets Program on their preparedness outreach efforts for

people behind Tulsa’s levees.

c. National Building Museum (NBM) “Designing for Disaster” exhibit

The City of Tulsa and Tulsa Partners are included in a video in the water section of this

exhibit in Washington D.C., which will be on display until August 2015. Go and see it!

d. Save the Children

In August 2013, Tulsa Partners was given a sub-grant to provide an in-state presence

for long-time partner Save the Children, overseeing the completion of initial recovery

activities and overseeing new training and outreach activities. Vanessa Price, a

retired Oklahoma City police officer with strong local community connections, was

hired to be a local project coordinator and trainer. Completed in September 2014,

the following is a sampling of some of the activities from the past year:

Get Ready Get Safe Children’s Workshop offered to over 2000 children in

central Oklahoma.

In conjunction with Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps and other partners, ten

Child-Friendly Spaces kits were placed in Oklahoma and almost 100 people

trained in setting up such spaces in shelters and assistance centers.

Over 300 child care providers were trained in Child Care Emergency

Preparedness Training

Schools and child care facilities received significant financial and material

support in their recovery efforts after the 2013 tornadoes

Save the Children provided the Journey of Hope psychosocial program in

schools through local mental health agencies in Moore.

Child care facilities and schools received visits from Save the Children animal

ambassador Lassie, and participated in Prep Rallies, a new exciting outreach

activity developed by Save the Children.

Agapeland Learning Center in Moore, destroyed during the May 2013 tornado,

received assistance from Save the Children, National Storm Shelter Association

and Tulsa Partners in the installation of a safe room at their new site, with

three other child care homes slated to receive safe room assistance

The City of Norman were assisted in developing a children’s annex to their

emergency operations plan, and in participating in a pilot Community

Preparedness Index developed by Columbia University

An Oklahoma Children in Emergencies Working Group was instituted.

2013-2014 Tulsa Partners, Inc. Board of Directors

President Megan Quickle Safety Coordinator-Hillcrest Hospital

Vice President David Hall Section Manager, Innovation and Small Business Solutions-State Farm Insurance Senior Fellow, Stephenson Disaster Management Institute, Louisiana State University

Secretary-Treasurer Judyth Gulden Adjunct Professor-Tulane University / Tulsa Community College

Board Members Tom Bennett Meteorologist Producer-KOTV News on Six General Manager-Jim Giles Safe Rooms / Owner-Bennett Native

Graham Brannin Intergovernmental Relations Administrator-City of Tulsa Water and Sewer Department

Kay Bridger-Riley Bridger Riley and Associates (attorney)

Kristin Gustafson Senior Business Resiliency Consultant-Bank of Oklahoma

Jeff Hamra President-Titan Data Services

Sara Kelly-Combs First Tribal Lending

Crystal Kline* CK Consulting, LLC (*Appointed Summer 2014)

Officer Demita Kinard Public Education Officer-Tulsa Police Department

Rebecca Major Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa

Janet Meshek Principal-Meshek and Associates, PLC

Felix Ontiveros President -TRC Disaster Solutions

Bob Roberts Emergency Management Coordinator-Tulsa Public Schools

2013-2014 DONORS FOR FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30 2014

PLATINUM DONORS

Bob Roberts

David Hall

Graham Brannin

Jason Stockinger

Margaret A.Cargill Foundation

MBO Data (Tulsa Connect)

Midcon Data Services

National Storm Shelter Association

Oklahoma Small Business Development Center

RoofHawk

Sara Kelly-Combs

Titan Data Security

TRC Disaster Solutions

ON THE ‘ABOUT US’ PAGE OF OUR WEBSITE

For Financial Information related to this 2013-2014 fiscal year, please

check our Form 990 on the “About Us” page at www.tulsapartners.org.

Tulsa Partners Inc. P.O. Box 2192, Tulsa OK 74101-2192

918-632-0044 / tulsapartners@gmail.com /www.tulsapartners.org