Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Please join us in saying farewell to our longtime executive director David Blatt

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Dear Friend,

Please join us in saying farewell to our longtime executive director David Blatt, who is stepping away from the organization he helped establish in 2008. In celebration of his long-standing service, OK Policy will host two farewell events later this month: 

  • Oklahoma City: Monday, Oct. 28, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Dr., and 

  • Tulsa: Tuesday, Oct. 29, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the IDL Ballroom, 230 E 1st St. 

Both events are free and open to the public, but RSVP is requested. 

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To further honor David’s impact, the OK Policy Board of Directors has established the David Blatt Legacy Fund to provide support for OK Policy’s bedrock policy work on budget and tax issues. For more information on contributing to the fund and to RSVP, visit www.okpolicy.org/ThankYouDavid.

David was a key figure in the establishment of OK Policy, which was launched in 2008 to provide non-partisan, data-driven research to help shape state policy for the betterment of all Oklahomans. He became the organization’s executive director in 2010. OK Policy now has a 23-person staff and an annual $1.8 million budget raised through a combination of grant funding and individual donors.

Blatt announced in March that he would be leaving the organization in the fall. OK Policy in June named Ahniwake Rose as its new executive director and she started her new role in September. 

Don Millican, who serves as OK Policy’s board chair, said the farewell events and the David Blatt Legacy Fund pay tribute to the executive director’s longtime service.

“David has been instrumental in developing OK Policy into an organization that is recognized and respected for its high-quality policy analysis that shapes conversations around Oklahoma’s most pressing issues,” Millican said. “Establishing the David Blatt Legacy Fund provides a permanent recognition for his work and dedication to the organization.”

Rose said her initial meetings with the organization’s stakeholders made apparent the great respect OK Policy has earned throughout the state and the nation for its high-quality, independent research and analysis.

“David has built an incredibly strong foundation for OK Policy’s work moving forward as we continue to address the crucial areas in which Oklahoma can better serve all of its citizens through improved policy and decision-making,” she said. 

Before joining OK Policy, Blatt served for seven years as the public policy director for Community Action Project of Tulsa and three years as a fiscal analyst for the Oklahoma State Senate. A native of Canada, Blatt moved to Oklahoma in 1996 with his wife Patty Hipsher after he completed his doctoral degree in government from Cornell University.

Beginning in January, Blatt will be joining the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Oklahoma - Tulsa as the George Kaiser Family Foundation Professor of Practice.

“It has been my honor to lead OK Policy this past decade,” Blatt said. “I am especially proud of the success the organization achieved in recent years in shifting the policy debate in Oklahoma towards a greater recognition of the need for fair and adequate funding of public services. I am extremely impressed by the experience and leadership Ahniwake is bringing to the organization, and know that she and her tremendous staff are poised to ensure the continued strength and growth of OK Policy in the years ahead.”

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