- Alicia Odewale is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at The University of Tulsa. She specializes in African Diaspora archaeology in the Caribbean and Southeastern United States. Since 2014 she has been researching archaeological sites related to Afro-Caribbean heritage in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands but has recently started researching and teaching about sites of Black heritage in Oklahoma. While she continues to research both urban and rural sites of enslavement in St. Croix, her latest research project based in Tulsa, OK seeks to reanalyze historical evidence from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, launch new archaeological investigations in the historic Greenwood district, and use radical mapping techniques to visualize the impact of the massacre through time on the landscape of Greenwood, utilizing a slow community-based approach. Her research interests include the archaeology of enslavement and freedom in urban contexts, Caribbean archaeology, rural and urban comparative analyses, community-based archaeology, ceramic analysis, transferware studies, mapping historical trauma from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and investigations into different forms of cultural resistance. She is the co-creator of the #TulsaSyllabus, an online resource guide that dives into the history and archaeology of Black enslavement, landownership, anti-black violence, and the rise of prosperous Black communities in Oklahoma. Her research has received awards and support from the American Anthropological Association, the National Science Foundation, the Society of Historical Archaeology, the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, Tulsa Community Foundation, SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program, and the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS). In addition to her role as faculty at The University of Tulsa, she also serves as the director of the Historical Archaeology and Heritage Studies Laboratory at TU and serves as the co-creator of the Estate Little Princess Archaeological Field School in St. Croix that trains local students in archaeological methods and other STEM related skills for free.
- Carlos Moreno is a graphic designer at CAP Tulsa, an anti-poverty organization and national leader in early childhood education. He also volunteers with Code for Tulsa, working to make local government work for the people, by the people, in the 21st century. As a serial entrepreneur, writer, and community activist, he has been at the forefront of many of Tulsa’s innovative ideas and civic engagement movements including the formation of Tulsa Fablab, The Forge, YP Tulsa, TulsaNow, Smart Growth Tulsa, and the Tulsey Awards. He was selected by national urban-affairs magazine NextCity as part of its 2014 Vanguard Class. In 2015, he was certified by IDEO and +Acumen, in the practice of Human-Centered Design. Carlos earned a Bachelor of Arts in Administrative Leadership from the College of Professional and Continuing Studies at the University of Oklahoma, and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree with a focus on civic technology. Carlos also serves on the board of Urban Coders Guild which serves to teach programming skills to disadvantaged youth, as well as the Advisory Board for the City of Tulsa’s Office of Performance Strategy and Innovation, the Gilcrease Museum Community Advisory Council, and the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) MPA Advisory Board.
- Dewayne Dickens is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Tulsa Community College, a position to support students’ success. Through his office, students are assisted with their use of research-based study strategies, leadership development, and balancing of life concerns through success coaching. Dr. Dickens has also served as a Developmental English Associate Professor at Tulsa Community College for over 18 years. Dr. Dickens is active in social justice issues throughout the region, reflected in his work with several organizations throughout the area, such as the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, the Greater Tulsa African American Affairs Commission, the Oklahoma Center for Community & Justice (OCCJ), Racism Stinks, and Oklahoma Humanities, along with serving as a board member for KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory. He joined the Leadership Tulsa’s 2021 Thrive Tulsa members to collaborate with other leaders within the Tulsa community to promote partnerships for social advocacy for the often unheard voices.
- Emily Whitney is an adjunct professor teaching Physical Geography, Cultural Geography, Introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Advanced Geographical Information Systems at Tulsa Community College. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from University of Tulsa and a Master of Art in Geography from University of Oklahoma. Her thesis addressed oil exploration in the Sarstoon-Temash Rainforest of Belize and the balance between conservation and development. During school, she did a variety of internships working at the Water Resources Board, San Andreas earthquake research, and Tallgrass Prairie research. She then worked at the Department of Environmental Quality and Chesapeake Energy, where she utilized GIS to manage superfund sites and midstream pipelines. Currently, she teaches part time at TCC while raising her three children. She was recently instrumental in using GIS in her classroom to help to create “Mapping Greenwood,” a map tracking the events of the Tulsa Race Massacre and memorials downtown.
- Gay Phillips is an Associate Professor at Tulsa Community College where she teaches sociology and anthropology courses. Her experience in social activism dates back to the 70’s working for the Equal Rights Amendment; advocating for runaway, homeless and LGBTQ youth; and as a member of the lawsuit against Oklahoma and the U.S. Department of Justice supporting gay marriage filed in 2004. Dr. Phillips now focuses on advocating for students in various ways at TCC and OSU-Tulsa. Gay is also dedicated to providing community engagement/service learning experiences for students where they get involved with local, predominantly smaller agencies in need of volunteers. Her students have provided volunteer work for a literacy-focused agency placing Little Free Libraries in Tulsa Parks; an internationally-focused organization where students helped develop an impact study with trip volunteers; a food drive for TCC’s Food Pantry; assisting Up with Trees in preparing saplings and watering materials, and most recently gathering information for the TCC Mapping Greenwood Project, commemorating the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
- Jessica Shelton, AICP (she/her/hers) is the Founder of M+P Advocates, a data-driven mapping and urban planning firm started in Tulsa and operating out of Austin, TX. Jessica also serves as the current Vice President of Land Development for StarCity Homes, an equity-missioned homebuilding company in Tulsa. She currently serves as the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committee chair for the Oklahoma Planning Board of the American Planning Association. Jessica has committed her career to making data-driven processes a standard operating practice for any organization working through the land development or preservation process – across all sectors including not-for-profit entities, private businesses, and municipalities. She aspires to see a world where the success of land development policy is measured by its positive impact on family and neighborhood outcomes.
- Kujanga (KJ) Jackson is the executive director of TOUCH/TheZone and is the developer of Greenwood Rising XR, an extended reality app that helps visitors to Greenwood understand what life would have been like in 1921. In addition to being a husband and father, KJ is also executive director of Tulsans Operating in Unity Creating Hope Inc. as well as the Senior Pastor of Zion Community Church. His personal mission is to build, to strengthen, & to equip a generation to fulfill their potential.
- Kristen Marangoni is an Associate Professor of English as well as Service-Learning Coordinator at Tulsa Community College. Believing that students learn best when they see how their writing matters in their communities, Dr. Marangoni works to design writing assignments that benefit the Tulsa community. Her students have helped to design virtual maps that commemorate the Tulsa Race Massacre and have helped provide recommendations on college food pantries. Dr. Marangoni has published on the importance of memory in learning from racially charged objects and texts and serves as a humanities scholar on the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation in America Symposium planning committee.
- Mikeal Vaughn is the founder and Executive Director of Urban Coders Guild, a Tulsa-based nonprofit organization that provides web and mobile application development skills to underserved and under-resourced communities. After spending nearly two decades working in IT in the US and Southeast Asia, Mikeal is a global industry veteran who knows well what it means to be one of the few Black faces in the workplace. He also knows that it takes more than tech skills to succeed in the ever-changing STEM industry environment. He believes that tech skills and experience paired with soft skills training are vital but more can be done to ensure that young people of color or women thrive in STEM industry jobs. We must also be intentional in building strong ecosystems – communities of belonging – in which they learn and thrive. Mikeal equates this as a powerful means to combat income inequality and the wealth gap. Mikeal is a native Tulsan and graduate of Booker T. Washington High School. He is an advocate for education, human rights, and mental health awareness. When he’s not actively promoting Urban Coders Guild, Mikeal is an avid pop-culture enthusiast who enjoys urban exploration, ethnic good, and Italian opera. He spent almost a decade living in Japan and speaks fluent Japanese. He holds a BA from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Temple University Japan.
- Pam Kannady is a Full Professor of English at Tulsa Community College where she teaches Composition, Introduction to Literature, and College Success courses. Professor Kannady strongly believes in institutional and community service, and her past service commitments have included working with digital college archives for HLC accreditation, chairing the English department, and volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Her most recent service-related project worked to establish a partnership with Urban Coders on the creation of The Historic Black Wall Street Business Directory. Professor Kannady has already had over 40 students involved in researching many of the businesses that were destroyed in The Tulsa Race Massacre, work that Urban Coders Students are then able to use when they develop websites. She is continuing this research project with 35 TCC students this semester.
- Parker VanValkenburgh is an anthropological archaeologist who is currently Stanley J. Bernstein Assistant Professor of Social Sciences, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, and Director of the Digital Archaeology Laboratory at Brown University. With Dr. Alicia Odewale, he is co-director of Mapping Historical Trauma in Tulsa, 1921-2021, which is employigng geophysical and pedestrian survey, digital cartography, digital storytelling and museum exhibitions to visualize cycles of trauma and resilience in Tulsa’s Greenwood community.
