People & Places: Tulsa philanthropists to be honored at National Philanthropy Day luncheon Nov. 15

Tish Stuart, Director of Mission Advancement for Catholic Charities, is being honored as Outstanding Fundraising Executive for the Eastern Oklahoma chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

The Eastern Oklahoma chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals will honor four Tulsans for their philanthropic activities when the “Giving Hearts: Inspiring Others” annual National Philanthropy Day luncheon is held beginning at 11:45 a.m. Nov. 15 at the Doubletree Hotel Downtown.

Honorees include Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser, Mary Shaw, board chairwoman of the Foundation of Tulsa Community College; Outstanding Philanthropist, Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation represented by Executive Director Elizabeth Frame Ellison; Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy, Sydney Wyre, Cupcakes for a Cure; and Tish Stuart, Catholic Charities Diocese of Tulsa.

Former Mayor Kathy Taylor will accept the award for the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation.

The panel that selected the honorees included Richard Boone, president of St. John Medical Center Foundation; Pam Richardson, executive director of Volunteers of America; Victoria Bartlett, city of Tulsa; Raymond Miller Jr., Fleming Building Co. Inc.; Debi Friggel, QuikTrip; and Frank Rhoades, Rhoades Foundation.

Mary Shaw has worked with many organizations and causes. Most recently, she led Tulsa Community College’s “Vision Dinner,” chaired OSU-Tulsa’s “A Stately Affair,” and co-chaired the Pink Ribbon Event for Tulsa Project Woman and “Titanic” dinner and concert for the Signature Symphony at TCC.

She is chairwoman of the Tulsa Community College Foundation and president of the Oklahoma Educational Foundation of Osteopathic Medicine. She is a member of the Tulsa Salvation Army Advisory Board, the Emeritus Board of Tulsa Opera and the American Indian Resource Committee for Tulsa City-County Library.

The Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation (LTFF) was established in 1997 by Bill Lobeck and Kathy Taylor. Taylor’s daughter, Elizabeth Frame Ellison, became executive director in 2009. The foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life for Oklahomans through education, community enrichment and entrepreneurialism. It supports such programs as Global Gardens and the University of Tulsa, and sponsors such events as Route 66 Marathon, Tulsa Tough and Winterfest. This year, LTFF took over leadership of the TCC StartUp Cup powered by Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation, a business model competition initiated by Kathy Taylor while she was mayor of Tulsa.

Sydney Wyre, 10, is being recognized for her mission to raise funds for cancer research through her homegrown initiative, Cupcakes for a Cure. A fifth-grade student at Liberty Elementary in Broken Arrow, she first began raising money for cancer research with Dance for a Cure through her local dance studio. Sydney has raised more than $8,000 for the American Cancer Society through Cupcakes for a Cure and will be making her donation at this year’s Dance for a Cure event in January 2013. You can help Sydney further her cause at her Facebook page, tulsaworld.com/cupcakesforcure

Tish Stuart, a CFRE-certified fundraising professional, is director of mission advancement for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Tulsa. Along with the advancement staff, Tish has consistently increased volunteer service and funding support through cultivation and stewardship. She has a key role in implementing the strategic plan to move the organization’s mission forward.

Catholic Charities surpassed its recent fundraising goal and is at 105 percent from 4,600 donors. Its Cooking Up Compassion event netted $530,000, with just 14 percent in expenses. Stuart is focusing on major gifts and promoting planned gifts as part of the Planned Giving Partnership with the Tulsa Community Foundation. She is 2013 president-elect of the local chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Kim Klein, an internationally noted consultant, trainer and author, will be the featured speaker at the all-day conference. Author of five books including “Reliable Fundraising in Unreliable Times,” which won the McAdam Book Award in 2010, she is a principal at Klein and Roth Consulting, which helps organizations build mission-driven fundraising programs, and a part-time faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley.

Event sponsors are George Kaiser Family Foundation, Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation, Maxine & Jack Zarrow Family Foundation, Hardesty Family Foundation, Williams, Oklahoma Methodist Manor, Sarkeys Foundation, Barnett Family Foundation, The Advancement Group, Stroman & Associates, and the Kerr Foundation.

National Philanthropy Day event co-chairwomen are Toni McGee, American Heart Association, and Steffanie Bonner, Tulsa Community Foundation.

Committee members are Pam Dose, Eastern Oklahoma AFP president; Heather Duncan, Community Action Project; Susan Garcia, Hospice of Green Country; Lindsay Jordan, Alzheimer’s Association; Amy Miller, OSU Foundation; Chris Miller, The Advancement Group; Toni Moore, Hospitality House of Tulsa; Susan Pierce, The Center for Individuals with Physical Challenges; Carrie Salce, Salvation Army; Tom A. Taylor, Emergency Infant Services; and Allison Walden, Tulsa Metro Chamber.

For more information about luncheon tickets, full conference registration or event sponsorship, contact Toni McGee, toni.mcgee@heart.org, 918-712-4009, or Steffanie Bonner, sbonner@tulsacf.org, 918-591-2404. Registration and a full agenda are available at tulsaworld.com/afp

Original Print Headline: Tulsa philanthropists to be honored

By DANNA SUE WALKER World Staff Writer

Copyright 2012 World Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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