Tulsa launches Office of Children, Youth and Families and invites tribal partners to new children’s cabinet

Deputy Mayor Crystal Reyes told the Tulsa City Council’s Tribal Nations Relations Committee that Mayor Nichols has established a mayoral Office of Children, Youth and Families and is forming a Tulsa Children’s Cabinet to align city and tribal efforts on child and family outcomes.

Reyes said the city has contracted with Impact Tulsa, a local cradle-to-career policy organization, to operate the mayor’s office and named Ashley Phillipson as the office director. "The vision is a Tulsa where every child and family, no matter their race, background, income, or ZIP code, thrives," Reyes said, describing the cabinet as a cross‑sector table of roughly 30 representatives plus issue‑focused "action alliances." She said the cabinet will include elected officials and that meetings will begin within weeks and convene roughly every other month for the remainder of the year.

The cabinet is intended to coordinate early childhood, career pathways and family‑stability work across city departments and outside partners, Reyes said, and the mayor has invited tribal nations to take part. "We have invited, and we hope to engage many…