About Tulsa Children’s Coalition

Organization

Tulsa Children’s Coalition, Inc. is organized exclusively for charitable, scientific, and education purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

General Purpose

The general purpose of the Coalition is to develop, implement, support, enhance, and promote initiatives, both independently and in collaboration with other public and private entities, that advance the care, development, and education of children. The Coalition seeks to help prepare children to receive and obtain the maximum benefit from school systems and other educational programs and opportunities, whether currently existing or established in the future.

Meetings

Dates and times of our upcoming meetings are on our meetings page.

Financial Information

2024 • 990
2025 • Audited Financials

Whistleblower Policy

Download our Whistleblower Policy and Protection here.

board of directors

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Brent Johnson

Brent is a Certified Public Accountant having graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. He has over 30 years of audit experience with clients in the manufacturing, construction, service, and distribution industries, as well as ERISA and not-for-profit related entities. In addition to being an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Tulsa Chapter of the OSCPA, and the Institute of Management Accountants, Brent has been very involved in the Tulsa community.

President

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Michelle Bergwall

Michelle is an innovative change agent and community leader. She brings more than 25 years of construction experience to GH2 Architects as executive director of facility planning. Having been responsible for the inception, management and allocation of public bond dollars, her expertise in budgeting and project management provides GH2 clients unmatched in-depth public facilities knowledge. Through the years, Michelle has founded multiple peer groups for district operations leaders statewide to collaborate on construction topics. Her passion for inclusiveness and collaboration offers design-specific insights through every project phase.

Vice-President

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Manfred Uekermann

Secretary/Treasurer

Manfred has served on the board of Tulsa Children’s Coalition, Inc., Project Get Together, The Tulsa Urban League, and the Tulsa Area United Way. He is a parishioner of Christ the King Parish and is active in their Men’s Club.

He’s married to his college sweetheart and is blessed with two wonderful daughters. Manfred enjoys music, playing soccer and golf, traveling, hiking, the beach, the mountains, working in the outdoors, and reading history and economics.

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Bob was the founding Executive Director of the Tulsa Children’s Coalition, Inc. in 1991. The Coalition resulted from a Chamber of Commerce initiative and was a collaborative partnership of several community organizations including Tulsa’s United Way. The Coalition primarily provided quality child-care for low-income families.

Bob also served as a volunteer consultant to Governor Keating’s Task Force on Early Childhood, which eventually resulted in legislation under Governor Henry creating the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness. He was appointed by Governor Henry to serve on that board, and subsequently agreed to be Interim Executive Director.

Bob Harbison

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Ms. Royal is the Manager of the Plant Operation Department for Tulsa Public Schools. She has been with Tulsa Public Schools / Sodexo School Services for over 30 years.

Brenda is responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of more than 90 locations. Brenda has been recognized nationally by Sodexo for developing her team and her work around diversity and inclusion. Brenda has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from St. Gregory’s University, she holds a 3rd Class Engineer License, a Pool & Spa Operator’s License, and has completed the 30 Hour OSHA training.

Brenda Royal

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Mr. Orbison was born in Enid, Oklahoma, and is a 1961 graduate of Enid High School. He attended Oklahoma State University and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Tulsa in 1966, where he majored in Political Science and History. He graduated University of Tulsa College of Law in 1968 and was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar that year.

He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority (the Tulsa State Fair Board) (vice chairman 1990-2013), a founding member of the Oklahoma Education Lottery Commission (chairman 2005-2007), a former director and president of the Tulsa Historical Society and a trustee of the Oklahoma State University Lew Wentz Foundation.

James C. Orbison

Andrew Marshall serves as Commercial Loan Manager with Arvest Bank in Tulsa where he has spent his career partnering with local business leaders to support the growth and well-being of the community.

A lifelong Tulsa area resident with deep, multigenerational roots in northeast Oklahoma, Andrew is committed to strengthening the place he and his family call home.

He is an active member of Christ Church Episcopal, serving on the vestry and contributing to the music team. He and his wife, Tiffany, have three children. Andrew’s passion for TCC stems from his deep belief that every child deserves a safe, nurturing environment and access to the resources they need to flourish.

Andrew Marshall

Kristin Henness has worked in education since 2000. She began her career as a parent educator for Parents As Teachers in Putnam City Public Schools helping parents understand their children's development needs and finding resources needed. She transitioned to helping families of children with disabilities at SoonerStart, the state's early intervention program, where she specialized in helping children transition to the public school system when they aged out of the program at 3 years old. In 2005, she helped Tulsa Public begin their full-day PreK program and the following year helped Union begin their full-day kindergarten program. She taught in Union for 5 years before moving to Broken Arrow Public Schools where she was a teacher, assistant principal, principal, Director of Early Childhood, and Executive Director of Teaching and Learning.