Oklahoma CareerTech says annual summit drew more than 4,400 attendees, raised scholarship funds and boosted social reach

Gina Hubbard, a CareerTech presenter, told the State Board of Career and Technology Education that the agency’s annual Oklahoma Summit in Tulsa this August registered more than 4,400 attendees and included a three-day program of professional development, networking and awards.

Hubbard said the agency closed its offices on the first day of the summit so staff could attend; she told the board “we closed our state agency on Monday, August 4 and we took our entire staff to Oklahoma Summit.” She said 232 agency staff attended and for 33 of those it was their first summit.

The summit included a vendor fair with 139 companies, an awards banquet and a foundation golf tournament that raised more than $6,000 for student organization support and scholarships, according to Hubbard. Brenna Long, CareerTech communications and marketing coordinator, briefed the board on digital metrics, saying the agency recorded roughly 669,000 impressions and about 25,000 engagements around summit content and that a newly debuted statewide marketing video had reached about 78,000 views since posting.

Andrea Hancock, the agency’s event coordinator, described the logistics: summit planning began a year in advance and this year used multiple Tulsa venues — six Tulsa Tech campuses, the Arvest Center and several hotels — plus partnerships with Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology and Green Country Technology Center to host trade and industrial sessions.

The summit program included keynote speakers, recognition of award winners and presentations from state elected officials. Hubbard noted that Representative Wei (District 68) supported a recent session bill that allowed pharmacy tech students to pursue apprenticeships. She also said Representative Lay is organizing an interim study on CareerTech benefits and opportunities and is interested in promoting the agency’s 600‑hour apprenticeship as a statewide model.

Board members asked about invitations and opportunities to attend; Hubbard and staff said they would provide more specific invitations to board members for future summit sessions.

The presentation to the board highlighted the summit’s role as a statewide convening for CareerTech educators and as part of the agency’s outreach to school districts and business partners.

A short question-and-answer period followed the presentation; no formal board action resulted from the report.