The Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth, and Families (MOCYF) is coming up on its one-year anniversary, marking a pivotal step in Tulsa’s long-term strategy to place 15,000 additional children and youth on a path to economic mobility by 2030.
Based on data available to date, Tulsa has reached 61% of its 2024-2025 school year target - with additional data still coming in.
While many organizations, agencies, and institutions serve children and youth in Tulsa - the city of Tulsa has historically lacked a coordinated system to help align goals, investments, and accountability around shared outcomes. Without that alignment, efforts have often been fragmented, limiting their maximum collective impact.
“As a City, we have a responsibility to build a community that delivers real results for our residents. Our educational leaders and partners are fully committed to our youth, but we all must accept the role and stand with our partners to confront the challenges before us. If we fail to act, we fail our community,” Mayor Monroe Nichols said. “The progress we make on public safety, homelessness, and housing directly shapes the future of our children and families. They deserve more, and I’m encouraged to see our City prioritizing support for our partners and our children, youth, and families as we move this vital work forward.”
While much of MOCYF's first year of operation was about convening partners and setting up the civic infrastructure to make the Office successful for the long term, early indicators from the first planning year and the 2024-2025 school year show notable movement in several areas that the office will continue to track in the years ahead, including:
MOCYF has set an aspirational target of 705 additional youth reaching key cradle-to-career milestones above the 2024-2025 baseline. Currently, approximately 100,000 Tulsa children and youth are meeting milestones tied to economic mobility; by 2030, an additional 15,000 youth must be on this path. The bulleted figures above reflect interim progress toward that long-term goal. Based on data available to date, Tulsa has reached 61% of its 2024-2025 school year target.
Final results for high school graduation, postsecondary enrollment and completion, and workforce entry will be incorporated as state and national data are released. All data are countywide and include the three Tulsa school districts.
As additional data become available, overall progress toward the 705-youth target, and ultimately the 15,000-youth target by 2030, will be updated.
A Shared Goal: 15,000 More Youth on a Path to Economic Mobility
As background, Mayor Nichols and the Tulsa City Council identified the importance of a framework around children, youth, and families during the 2025 Mayor-Council retreat. Moving toward that goal - in February of 2025, Mayor Nichols issued an executive order to establish MOCYF and the Tulsa Children’s Cabinet. Subsequently, the Tulsa City Council approved funding for the Office during the FY26 budget cycle.
“This first year was about doing the hard but intentional work that sustainable change requires,” Deputy Mayor Krystal Reyes said. “I'm proud of the progress we have made so far to stand up a new office that is focused on how to expand our efforts to create better outcomes as a community. Because of this foundational work, we are now positioned to move faster and smarter together to deliver better outcomes for children and families.”
At the center of MOCYF’s work is Know Your Number, Tulsa’s cradle-to-career framework for youth economic mobility. Developed in partnership with Impact Tulsa, Know Your Number tracks the milestones most predictive of long-term success - from kindergarten readiness and early literacy to high school graduation, postsecondary completion, and workforce entry.
The goal is not 15,000 youth meeting these milestones in a single year or program. Instead, it reflects cumulative, year-over-year progress: each year, Tulsa aims to help more youth reach key milestones than the baseline year, adding those cumulative gains together through 2030.
Action Alliances: Turning Shared Goals into Coordinated Action
One of the most significant accomplishments of 2025 was the design and launch of Action Alliances as part of the Tulsa Children’s Cabinet - the primary mechanism through which Tulsa’s shared goals are translated into on-the-ground change.
Action Alliances are cross-sector, outcome-focused groups of existing partners including local leaders, educators, service providers and community members or those who work directly with families and children - who align strategy, resources, and accountability around a shared result for children, youth, and families.
The Action Alliances relay important information to the Children’s Cabinet on the barriers to economic mobility experienced by children and youth and the possible solutions to address these system or policy barriers. Many members of Action Alliances are members of existing working groups, citywide efforts, or cross disciplinary teams working on many of the issues that the Children’s Cabinet focuses on.
The goal of including Action Alliances in the Children’s Cabinet is to give their existing work more legs and to connect their knowledge and experience directly to the decisions that system leaders are uniquely positioned to address such as resource allocation, policy changes, investment decisions and others.
Rather than creating new programs, Action Alliances are working to:
In October 2025, MOCYF hosted an Action Alliance interest meeting that drew more than 120 participants, including 50 youth, demonstrating strong community demand for aligned, outcomes-driven collaboration. Throughout the year, Alliances will report progress to the Tulsa Children's Cabinet and community members, ensuring transparency and shared accountability.
Action Alliances will start to inform pilots and investment decisions, ensuring future funding is guided by data, lived experience, and coordinated strategy instead of siloed efforts.
Building the Civic Infrastructure Tulsa Never Had
In 2025, MOCYF's focus on laying the foundation for this work was made possible by building the tools, governance, and mechanisms required for sustained progress.
Below are some additional 2025 accomplishments:
Governance & Leadership
Tools, Data, & Alignment
Early Systems Shifts & Pilot Momentum
Leadership Transition and Continuity
Last week, ImpactTulsa announced the departure of its Executive Director Ashley Philippsen at the end of February. Her leadership has been instrumental in launching the Office and the Cabinet, convening partners and building the foundation that now exists. The City of Tulsa is committed to continuing the work of MOCYF in partnerships with Impact Tulsa, Tulsa’s cradle to career backbone organization.
"Ashley has been an extraordinary partner to the City of Tulsa and a driving force behind our shared commitment to children, youth, and families,” Tulsa Deputy Mayor Krystal Reyes said. “Her leadership was instrumental in launching the Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth, and Families and building the strong foundation we are standing on today. We are grateful that Ashley will continue to remain engaged in an advisory role for the Office through May, ensuring continuity as this important work moves forward. Her impact on Tulsa will be felt for years to come.”
Looking Ahead
In 2026 and beyond, MOCYF will shift from building the foundation for this work to accelerating impact by continuing to strengthen the work of the Tulsa Children’s Cabinet, expanding Action Alliances, piloting interventions, expanding youth workforce pathways, and tracking progress transparently year over year.
For more information on MOCYF, visit: www.cityoftulsa.org/mocyf
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