BY MARY WALSH, SIGNATURE CLASS XII

In September, 2004, following LOKC’s original niche programming blueprint which began with Fast-Track, the Strategic Planning Committee suggested a new course series to target young adults.

And then came LOYAL…….

To learn more about LOYAL’s planning and implementation we visited with Jane Sutter and James Moore, committee members, as well as Shannon Rich, Richard Parry, Cindy Batt, Bill Citty and Steve Raybourn, who were program volunteers.

Jane: As Jane Sutter recalls “both our own focus groups and OKC Chamber’s Project NEXT agreed that our local young adults wanted a way to connect with each other, but also needed an avenue to hone leadership skills, provide community involvement and jump start professional growth.” 

James Moore adds: “We saw we were losing our young professionals to other cities in other states because, among other things, they wanted to make a difference in this community, to collaborate with others and they weren’t finding those opportunities here.”

Jane: “Specifically, they were aware that to be admitted to groups like our Signature Program as well as many non-profit boards, they needed extensive volunteer experience as well as a network of contacts.  But to get that experience and those contacts, they needed certain basic leadership skills they couldn’t find.  It was a kind of a vicious cycle.

“So, quoting from our published goals, we developed a plan to engage, motivate and retain diverse and creative young adults in the Central Oklahoma community through networking, skills training and community involvement opportunities.”

Richard Parry: “Early on, we found planning could be a complicated matter.  Questions about time frames, age requirements, inclusion in the directory, participation in the alumni association, all needed to be resolved for a group with completely different dynamics than we were accustomed to.  We even had conversations about the program name.  Thanks go to Adonna Meyer for solving our dilemma by suggesting LOYAL, the acronym for Linking OKC’s Young Adult Leaders.

Shannon Rich: “Offering agendas with a new kind of content was also challenging:   With Fast Track, we had existing subject matter from the Signature Program.  But with LOYAL we were building a program from the ground up, gathering mostly different agenda elements for a different audience.  True, we used True Colors and etiquette training from sources on hand, but we also needed ways to teach proficiencies like podium skills, meeting management, and conflict resolution.”

Steve Raybourn: “Quite often, we were able to merge skills training with the LOYAL Action Projects involvement, or LAPs as they were known.  In those, we would enable local non-profits (and we still do) to work with a group of LOYAL class members to address a project where they needed new solutions or new sets of eyes.  This offered class members a hands-on opportunity to engage in the community.  Additionally, it allowed local non-profits access and exposure to civic-leaders-to-be.”

Shannon: “For instance, at my day job as President and CEO of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, we offer substantial college scholarships to high schoolers in all of our state’s 77 counties.  We needed help in creating and implementing a means to get the word out.  A team from LOYAL Class I provided us with that ability.  In fact, the Hall of Fame even wound up bringing a member of the LOYAL team to our team.”

Steve: “Here, too, there was a learning curve for all of us.  We saw projects needed to be carefully vetted to be sure they offered our class the necessary higher-level skills, not just cleaning the park or canvassing for money.  And we needed to be sure the non-profits were aware that our group members were not their volunteers for life.  Also, at first, we thought it would be advantageous to pair groups with a Signature program grad who would provide guidance along the way.  We soon learned class members were quite capable of functioning on their own.  And, too, part of the lesson for participants was problem solving.  As program volunteers, we were sometimes too ready to step in and assist.  We learned to wait to be asked for help.”

Staff note:  To date, 905 LOYAL class members from 16 classes have addressed 90 projects for 72 local non-profits.  Current projects include:

Girls Scouts Western Oklahoma - Project:  To help increase community awareness of Camp Trivera in support of the Friends of Trivera group, as well as private rentals and help launch the first Friends recrutiment event in the Spring.

Metropolitan School of Dance - Project:  To help revamp the School’s presence and accessibility in the state, technologically, by updating our web presence, create an all events informational brochure, review the logo design, and possibly design a t-shirt. 

Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services - Project:  Refresh and revive the mental health advocacy day at the State Capitol where families share their stories with elected officials.

Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma - Project:  To help launch a new fundraising initiative, OKC Restaurant Week, to replace the organization's food tasting gala, Chefs' Feast. The organization is seeking the support of LOYAL members to help in the creation of a marketing campaign for our new event.

Woven Life, Inc - Project:  Create a Young Professionals Board for WovenLife that incorporates members aged 18-35, in a diverse and fun atmosphere. This board would be responsible for creating one event a year and promoting donations for WovenLife to continue programming.

Cindy Batt: “We need to mention biographies.   In my opinion, these continue to be another vital element to our program.  In the beginning, they were to be brief, five-minute narratives written and presented by each individual about what he or she did during the day at work.  However, very soon they morphed into outlines of why and how each person had become the individual we met in class.   As program co-chairs, Bill Citty and I found the faster the class members opened up to one another, the faster they bonded as a group.  Consequently, we were the first to present our bios, and it really took off from there.”

Bill Citty: “Here’s how powerful those bios are:   After seeing the effect these presentations had on the group, as Oklahoma City Police Chief, I introduced bios to the first week of OCPD rookie training.  Additionally, I understand the process has been added to LOKC’s Signature Program.”

Staff note:  The nuts and bolts of application to LOYAL, including Who Should Apply and Tuition Information are located on the Leadership Oklahoma City website, www.lokc.org.  Applications for LOYAL Class XVII will be available by June 15, 2022.  It is important to note that we usually receive 2-3 times as many applications as we can place in a class, so interested parties are encouraged to re-apply in succeeding years if not selected.

Steve Raybourn: “And what do volunteers gain?  Let me answer that.  Meeting those class members gave me hope.  The news today isn’t always encouraging.  But meeting so many good, young people over the seven years I was involved showed me that we have so much positive potential coming up.”

Cindy Batt: “It’s so rewarding to be among young people and hear their opinions.  We lose some perspectives being exclusively with our contemporaries.  Just as class members have joined LOYAL to learn, we can learn from them.”

Bill Citty: “During my stint as program co-chair, I was going through a bad time professionally - all over the news and everything.  To clear the air, I told the class about it, and immediately I found out the young adults I was there to support were in fact supporting me.  Later in the year, I was invited to speak at A Chance to Change fundraising dinner with 500 – 600 people in attendance.  Very scary.  Every single class member attended to have my back, and the tickets weren’t cheap.  It meant the world to me.” 

Steve Raybourn: “Put simply, if you’re asked to help, don’t say ‘no’.  Nobody else does.”

Editor’s note:  In case we have not said enough about the bonding value of LOYAL, here’s an example:  recently a class member waiting in a restaurant to meet a date was stood up.  This person texted to the class what had happened.  Within moments, fellow class members arrived to commiserate.  Additional class members who couldn’t join them called in food and beverage orders to the restaurant.  According to reports, the rescue was better than the original date would have been.  That’s the kind of friendships LOYAL has to offer.