Sustainable communities are created by women who challenge systems built on inequities. That was the message Wednesday from some of Tulsa’s most prominent female leaders during a Women’s History Month panel.
The event, hosted by Tulsa Community College, featured former Mayor Susan Savage; Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Ebony Johnson; Oklahoma State University physician Dr. Regina Lewis; and Terence Crutcher Foundation executive director Tiffany Crutcher.
For Tulsa to thrive, the panelists encouraged women to exercise their right to vote, invest in education, fight for justice and prioritize their physical and mental health.
Savage said local government has the greatest impact and threw her weight behind the April 7 Tulsa Public Schools bond vote.
“Whether you have children in the public school system or not is irrelevant,” Savage said. “Unless you are investing in the education system that is in your community, then everything else goes by the wayside, your workforce, the livability factors, the attractiveness of community.”
She said social sustainability also means working “from the ground up, from every neighborhood to every school district to every government official.”
When it comes to education, Johnson said adults must make the commitment to youth, by showing them what they can do to succeed and dedicating social capital to helping them.
“Did you fill out Oklahoma’s Promise? Have you filled out Tulsa Achieves?” Johnson said of the tuition-free scholarships.
She said when we don’t properly invest, we end up selling kids a dream deferred.
Crutcher spoke from the social justice perspective about creating connective communities.
“I believe that when you create systems where people, our children, our youth (and) families can live, work and play and thrive, that’s what sustainability is. It’s not just about surviving,” she said.
Crutcher said her foundation is working to accomplish that by knocking on doors and giving residents a chance to be a part of the solutions.
Nicole Rodgers, a certified licensed social worker, attended the event. She said community conversations should continue year-round to give leaders the space to share their own journey and ideas with everyone in the community.
“These strong women that have paved the way … have given us that blueprint, that pathway, because that takes a lot of strength,” Rodgers said.
But to be successful, Lewis urged women to prioritize their health and wellbeing.
“As women, we want to take care of everybody else before we take care of ourselves,” she said. “When we make (our health) a priority, we’re teaching our kids that it’s a priority. They see the things that we do, whether you say it out loud or not … and then it gets trickled down.”
