Tulsa’s Turn Toward Prosperity for All

Source: What Works Cities | By Alison Gardy

Mindful of its painful racial history, the City of Tulsa is determined to support previously sidelined North Tulsans

**Even before COVID-19 exposed and exacerbated so many symptoms of the United States’ crisis of economic inequality, local governments were working on better ways forward. Through the What Works Cities (WWC) Economic Mobility initiative, launched in June 2019, nine cities chose to develop critical projects to increase the financial security and economic mobility of their most vulnerable residents — often in low-income communities of color.

The story below is a snapshot: a record of a persistent obstacle to economic mobility, of a city creatively engaged with the problem, of an emerging solution. Written before the pandemic began, it shows the commitment and leadership of city leaders, staff, and local community partners who recognized the need for change. Although COVID-19 is reshaping economic mobility challenges and solutions around the country, the stories of these pre-crisis actions and insights remain instructive and valuable.

As the hard tasks of response and recovery continue, WWC will be publishing stories about how cities have evolved their economic mobility projects to meet the moment.**

TULSA, OK — The legacy of North Tulsa’s history of segregation and disinvestment isn’t hard to find in this city. Disparities persist to this day: The area, whose residents are disproportionately African-American, is challenged by high poverty rates, insufficient public transportation, and a large unbanked population. Residents’ average life expectancy is six years lower than that of Tulsans in the rest of the city.

There is much to redress and repair in North Tulsa, where over the past century, economic progress has been systematically thwarted. The 1921 Tulsa race massacre destroyed the city’s “Black Wall Street,” a thriving Black economic center. Desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s eroded North Tulsa’s economic base, albeit unintentionally. And ironically-named “urban renewal” policies of the 1960s and 1970s further harmed the area’s communities.

Mayor G.T. Bynum knows he cannot rewrite history nor fully repair the intergenerational trauma caused by past governmental actions and policies. But Bynum, who was sworn into office in 2016, also knows the City must do all that it can to help write a more just and equitable story going forward. By focusing on the data — documenting inequality patterns and concentrating evidence-based efforts to address these inequities — he hopes to “reorient the economic development” of all Tulsa so that those who have not historically benefited from government policies and practice will have a chance to participate in the city’s prosperity.

Having run on a platform of a “well-run government” serving all Tulsans, the mayor got to work showing what that meant. For example, he prioritized creating an annual Tulsa Equality Indicators Report. First published in 2018 in partnership with the Community Service Council, it measures the underlying causes of inequality as well as its characteristics across various aspects of life: economic opportunity, education, housing, and public health. Meanwhile, the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity, created in 2019, has been implementing the City’s first strategic plan (“Resilient Tulsa”) to address inequality issues.

As the Mayor and his team develop a strong data infrastructure and strategy to address inequality, the City is pressing forward in partnership with the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) to build an economy-boosting industrial park on 117 acres in North Tulsa. A core goal of the Peoria-Mohawk Business Park project is to ensure that North Tulsans access the high-quality jobs that are sure to flow into the area.

Growing Opportunities

Today the City is racing to ensure that North Tulsa residents share in opportunities brought by new investments taking place in their community. Two of the largest employers in the history of the city have relocated to North Tulsa. In addition, GKFF is recruiting businesses to the new industrial park that offer skilled, sustainable-wage jobs. North Tulsa residents would be eligible for them with an entry-level credential and training in workplace skills, and they can also take advantage of opportunities to train for higher-skill jobs.

The industrial area will benefit from a $10 million investment in public infrastructure and a new 300,000-square-foot facility to house businesses. Tulsa Community WorkAdvance (TCW), a community-based nonprofit that offers Tulsa-area residents workforce training and job placement support, will offer specialized workforce training for at least 1,000 high-quality jobs that will soon arrive in North Tulsa. As this development unfolds, the City is building awareness about job opportunities for North Tulsans.

“Our efforts to quickly upskill residents…also helps existing businesses thrive, while benefiting residents and our whole community.” — Karen Pennington, Executive Director of Tulsa Community WorkAdvance

Tulsa has piloted two new programs in the past year to help city residents access these high-quality jobs. NextUp is a career development program designed to reach young adults across the city who are under- or unemployed or out of school; it pays close attention to 18-to-24-year-olds in North Tulsa. Due North focuses on providing North Tulsa residents with access to job training and certifications needed for quality employment.

Companies want to locate where people have the right skills. Only 40 percent of Oklahomans 25 years and older have attained a post-secondary degree; yet in the next five years, 75 percent of jobs in Oklahoma will require post-secondary education.

“In order for Tulsa to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining employers, having a skilled and educated workforce is critical. Skilled residents will help bring new, quality employers to Tulsa who can provide higher wages and benefits for their employees,” says native Tulsan Karen Pennington, executive director of TCW. “Our efforts to quickly upskill residents using an evidence-based model also helps existing businesses thrive, while benefiting residents and our whole community.”

A New Lifeline

Programming created through partnerships such as NextUp is proving critical for young North Tulsans like 20-year-old S.J.* At 18, S.J. was working part-time in retail, earning $7.25 to $8 per hour. “All I knew was retail,” she says, “and all I could get in retail were part-time jobs.”

Anxious to expand her employment prospects to full-time, better-paying work, she applied to several workforce training programs. But she was turned away because, she says, “We weren’t rock bottom, we weren’t drowning.”

S.J. may not have been drowning, but she desperately needed a lifeline. S.J., who has Type 1 diabetes, was often unable to purchase her insulin prescriptions and was repeatedly hospitalized in intensive care. Struggling to make payments for a car she had bought to get to her part-time jobs and pay off her hospital bills, she knew that without more stable, higher-wage work with health insurance, she would sink into irreversible debt. “I begged my employer for more hours,” S.J. says, “but I couldn’t get more than 30 hours per week.”

Because she was not technically living below the poverty line, she assumed she would not qualify for NextUp. The program meets the unique needs of unemployed or underemployed young adults by guaranteeing at least one year of career coaching, career readiness training, technical training, job search support, resumé writing and interview coaching. And it offers follow-up support after a job is secured. “I begged whatever God is up there, ‘Please let me get into this program,’” S.J. recalls.

She was accepted into the program and became one of the first 10 NextUppers. Within six months of her first contact with NextUp, she secured a job at a local hospital as a phlebotomist, a profession she had learned about during her hospitalizations.

“I ended up nailing the interview because of NextUp’s help,” S.J. says. “I get the [work] hours I need and am doing significantly better.” With full-time health benefits, she has a continuous glucose monitoring system and has not had any more hospitalizations. She is able to make her car loan payments. And she’s dreaming bigger: She wants to go to college to study microbiology, with the goal of one day working in a lab.

Capacity for Economic Justice

As Tulsa presses forward with new strategies for starting a more equitable chapter in its history, the City and its community partners know they must increase their capacity to ensure residents swiftly acquire in-demand skills.

The mayor’s pledge of economic justice for North Tulsans has attracted support beyond Oklahoma. Last year, the City was selected to participate in the WWC Economic Mobility initiative, an 18-month program that aims to help nine participating cities identify, pilot, and measure the success of local strategies designed to accelerate economic mobility for their residents.

Tulsa is one of nine American cities working closely with WWC to improve outcomes for residents through data and evidence.