In 2018, Tulsa was a winner for the Cities of Service Engaged Cities Award for its Urban Data Pioneers program, through which teams of city staff, citizens, and nonprofit partners examine city data and help the city address public problems. Urban Data Pioneers have helped the city effectively use data to identify and solve problems ranging from traffic incidents to blight. The program has fostered collaboration between departments in city hall and created new opportunities for city staff to work smarter, using data and the new skills they gain in the process. Urban Data Pioneers now includes more than 120 data scientists, technical professionals, city staff, and representatives from nonprofit organizations.
Tulsa is also one of 10 cities that took part in the Cities of Service Resilience AmeriCorps program. Through this program, the city engaged with citizen volunteers to build and sustain resilience in low-income communities by implementing the Cities of Service Sustainable Home Makeover Blueprint. With this Blueprint, Tulsa expanded the fortified home program and offering weatherization retrofits to low-income homeowners so that more homes can sustain extreme weather like tornadoes. The city also revived neighborhoods by mobilizing citizen volunteers to map and reduce blight throughout Tulsa with the Cities of Service Love Your Block Blueprint. Through Love Your Block, Tulsa has helped neighborhoods organize to provide valuable information to the city and address local needs.
Tulsa has been a member of the Cities of Service coalition since 2015.
Mayor G.T. Bynum
G.T. Bynum was sworn in as the 40th mayor of Tulsa on December 5, 2016. Prior to his election, Mayor Bynum served for eight years on the Tulsa City Council. During that time, he was elected as the youngest city council chairman in Tulsa history. Throughout his time in Tulsa city government, Mayor Bynum has focused on fiscal restraint, public safety, and infrastructure.
Chief of Staff Jack Blair
Before joining the Bynum administration, Jack Blair served as the policy administrator for the Tulsa City Council. He previously worked as an assistant attorney general for the Muscogee Creek Nation.
Director of the Working in Neighborhoods Department Dwain Midget
Dwain Midget has served in various roles for the City of Tulsa since 1984. He has been director of the Working in Neighborhoods Department since 2008.