Tulsa Asian Affairs Commission names 2025 priorities, advances Lunar New Year plans and committee leadership

The City of Tulsa Asian Affairs Commission on Jan. 7 focused its work plan for 2025 on cultivating Asian community leadership, expanding data collection about service needs, and increasing outreach through events including an inaugural Lunar New Year festival on Feb. 1.

Commission Chair Sarah said she wanted the meeting to be oriented toward planning: "the main focus that I want to to work on during this meeting is our planning." The commission voted to make Masood the chairperson of the workforce and education committee by voice vote during the meeting. Ethan, chair of the cultural committee, outlined logistics for the commission's Lunar New Year event and identified sponsors and community partners.

Why it matters: Commissioners described 2025 as a year to move beyond outreach and awareness toward concrete leadership development, data-driven targeting of services and early work on mental-health outreach. The commission is building partnerships and a modest event budget to raise visibility while also creating data processes the members say are needed to direct future programs.

Most important facts - The commission set fostering future leaders in the Asian community as an overarching 2025 goal, discussed solutions ranging from short workshops to mentorships and partnerships with Leadership Tulsa, and identified mental-wellness outreach and student engagement as priorities. - The commission is hosting a Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday, Feb. 1, to be held at the University of Tulsa's 101 Archer Building; Circle Cinema will show Parasite on Jan. 26 to help promote the month of events. Williams provided a $25,100 grant toward event activities, and the commission reported raffle and in-kind donations (including about $500 in gift cards) from local businesses. - The commission established an official account with the Tulsa Community Foundation to accept monetary gifts and said its event budget will fund entertainment, marketing, and volunteer materials.

What commissioners discussed Ethan, cultural committee chair, described performers and activities the committee secured: "Doctor Alpha Zhang... is going to bring her group doing a piano, solo, and duets. The China Roses... are doing a beautiful folk dance." He asked commissioners to volunteer for planning and said the cultural committee planned a virtual committee meeting on Jan. 27.

On data and research, commissioners said the committee will gather partnership-held demographic data rather than collect in a silo. The data committee has drafted three core outreach questions for partner organizations: what percentage of your clientele or employees are Asian; are there differentiated services for those people; and what resources would strengthen support for Asian populations. The committee plans to share a spreadsheet of partner contacts and send invites for periodic meetings running through April.

Commissioners also discussed leadership development options, including short-format leadership workshops, mentoring new commissioners and community participants, and possible collaboration with Leadership Tulsa. "We could kind of work towards... help identify different Asian leaders who can provide their own different strengths," Ethan said. Commissioners repeatedly framed leadership work as cross-generational and not limited to students or a single nationality.

Event promotion and city coordination Commission staff member Lexi and commissioners discussed promotional steps: building an Eventbrite landing page, drafting a press release for city marketing review, and requesting city social-media support. Sarah said she would draft a press release and that KWGS and local outlets had offered in-kind spots. The commission noted city-branding limits: "anything with AAC City of Tulsa logo, we have to get approved by the marketing department before it's distributed to the constituents," Lexi said.

Budget and logistics The commission reported a formal account at the Tulsa Community Foundation and said it has a budget adequate for the Lunar New Year event. Commissioners described the budget plan as covering nearly half for entertainment and the remainder for marketing, volunteer materials and shirts; exact line-item totals beyond the $25,100 Williams grant were not specified.

Decisions and next steps - The commission directed staff and chairs to finish event materials, finalize sponsors and produce an Eventbrite page for outreach. - The data committee will send meeting invites and present a partner outreach spreadsheet for February feedback. - The workforce and education committee will meet under newly seated chair Masood; commissioners voted to confirm his chair role by voice vote.

Votes at a glance - Motion to approve October meeting minutes — motion made and accepted (voice approval); no roll-call tally recorded. - Motion to appoint Masood as chair of the workforce and education committee — approved by voice vote ("All in favor? Aye.").

Meeting context and engagement The meeting combined committee reports, planning discussion and administrative items: chairs presented cultural, workforce/education, and data-research updates; commissioners discussed strategy for 2025 goals and outreach. Commissioners said they will pursue intergenerational leadership programming (an intergenerational summit was noted for March 17 at Martin Regional Library) and requested coordinated city marketing support for rapid promotion of the Feb. 1 event.

Ending Commission Chair Sarah said the commission would recapture goals and return for a vote next month on an overarching goal statement; the meeting adjourned after announcements and the reminder that several vacancies remain on the commission that leaders want to fill.