Lauren Sivek | The Opp Project

By Roderick Hands | April 8, 2025

In this episode of “Tulsa is Home,” Lauren Sivak shares her journey from Chicago to Tulsa, highlighting the city’s charm and opportunities. The discussion emphasizes Tulsa’s thriving economy, supportive initiatives like the Tulsa Remote Program, and the significant impact of nonprofits such as The Opp Project on youth education and community engagement.

Show Notes:

Guest: Lauren Sivak, The Opp Project

In this episode of the Tulsa is Home Podcast, we welcome Josh Juarez, the founder of Josh’s SnoShack. Josh shares his inspiring entrepreneurial journey, starting as a college student trying to make money to becoming a role model and mentor for his employees. We dive into his background, the early days of his business, overcoming milestones, and the epiphany that transformed his business model. Josh discusses the importance of creating great summer experiences for Tulsa, hiring the right people, and maintaining a positive work culture. He also talks about his family’s support, the logistics of running multiple locations, and future plans for expansion and new ventures. This episode provides valuable insights into the life of a successful entrepreneur and the vibrant community of Tulsa.

00:00 Introduction and Early Beginnings

01:10 Welcome to Tulsa is Home Podcast

01:23 Meet Josh Juarez: The King of Cones

02:14 Josh’s Journey: From Houston to Tulsa

02:49 Building a Business: The Early Years

03:46 Family and Business: Balancing Act

07:33 The Epiphany: Creating Summer Memories

10:36 Scaling Up: From One Shack to Many

12:57 Hiring the Right People: Culture Fit

27:14 Future Plans and New Ventures

30:29 Why Tulsa is Home

33:13 Conclusion and Contact Information

Contact Information:

Email: info@theopp.org

Transcript:

Lauren Sivek: [00:00:00] I think one of the things that I don’t, maybe you don’t have this problem, Roderick, you seem very charming, but one of the worries that my wife and I had when we were moving from Chicago to Tulsa was, will we be able to make any friends? Yeah. It’s hard to make friends as an adult. 

Intro Video: Known as the biggest town you’ll ever experience.

With its unique historical background, Tulsa is home to a diverse range of people and businesses with a thriving economy. Delicious eats, nightlife and entertainment for all ages. Tulsa is also home to business titans, entrepreneurs, artists. And foodies, whether you’re considering a move to Tulsa or just wanting to learn more about the place you call home, the Tulsa is home podcast is for you.

Roderick Hands: Welcome to another episode of the Tulsa’s home podcast. Uh, [00:01:00] today we get to talk about one of Tulsa’s, um, nonprofit groups, the op project. And, uh, so we’re here with Lauren Sivak and appreciate you coming on. Thank you so 

Lauren Sivek: much for having me. 

Roderick Hands: Absolutely. So we’ll get to dive into what the mission is, and where you guys focus, and all the benefits that come through it for the students of Tulsa and Oklahoma.

And, um, so first Where are you from? And tell us just a little bit of background. 

Lauren Sivek: Absolutely. I am originally from Indiana, small town in Northwest Indiana, but before moving to Tulsa in July, 2022, I lived the last 13 years in Chicago and I was running a nonprofit. Uh, I had moved to Chicago to pursue theater, which is actually how I met my wife who is originally from Tulsa.

Uh, and I was really invested in education initiatives in, uh, my neighborhood in Chicago with a, with an emphasis that, you know, every young person should have [00:02:00] access to high quality education regardless of their zip code. And when I moved here, uh, I worked remote a little bit, so there was a transition period where I was still running the non profit in Chicago that was a story based collective.

Um, but I knew that I wanted to Find a way to be part of the education ecosystem in the city. So my background is in non profit management, but I have a degree in English education, and I spend a lot of time working in education based advocacy efforts. Okay. 

Roderick Hands: Awesome. And then, uh, so when did How long have you been in Tulsa?

Two and a half years. 

Lauren Sivek: But the first time my wife brought me to Tulsa was in 2017. And it was awesome. I immediately had a crush on Tulsa. I often say, like, 

Roderick Hands: Well, 

Lauren Sivek: no, sometimes I’ll say, like, first I fell in love with a Tulsan, then I fell in love with Tulsa. Her family, I think, uh, they saw, like, an opportunity in me to be like, Oh, well maybe [00:03:00] Maybe we can Woo Lauren.

Roderick Hands: Yeah. 

Lauren Sivek: And Lauren will bring Erin back. Yeah. And it worked like we, they took, it was the greatest hits to her . And on the way back we were driving back to Chicago and I said to Erin, we should move to Tulsa. Yeah. 

Roderick Hands: And 

Lauren Sivek: at that point she said Absolutely not because she was an actor and she, yeah. Chicago is a really, uh, thriving mm-hmm

Theater scene. Certainly. Definitely before the pandemic it did. Things have changed. Mm-hmm . As we all navigate like a post pandemic normal. Um, but. You know, pandemic also changes everything. And so we went from, you know, really loving our two bed, one bath condo to thinking, 

Roderick Hands: Yeah. 

Lauren Sivek: We can have something different.

Right? We can have a little more space. Yes. Uh, a little less gray. 

Roderick Hands: Mm hmm. And 

Lauren Sivek: it’s been, uh, Wonderful. There are a few things in my marriage that I get to be the 100 percent right about. Tulsa is the 100 percent right. 

Roderick Hands: So is it, uh, you mentioned the people. Did it feel, your first impression, did it feel like just a really small town coming from [00:04:00] Chicago?

Or did it feel, um, balanced? You know, Tulsa A lot of people say it’s got everything. It’s got the, you know, it’s got the restaurants. It’s got the nightlife. It has the the kids Events and everything but coming from specifically the third largest, which I just found out Yeah, I didn’t realize Tulsa, er, Chicago is the third largest city.

Lauren Sivek: Yeah, 

Roderick Hands: but coming from that. How did it feel first impression? 

Lauren Sivek: Um, I think 

Roderick Hands: It doesn’t have to be positive. Well, the thing is, I’m 

Lauren Sivek: going to say what everybody says. Yeah. And what you just said. I, when I first, when I first came to Tulsa, the thing that really, uh, stuck out to me was that I could say yes to all of the things that I love about living in a big city.

While saying no or goodbye to all of the things that I really struggle with in living in a big city, like traffic and parking. And I think one of the biggest surprises for us [00:05:00] is how expansive our life is in Tulsa. City of 400, 000. I think we hit a million when we do all of the, in Chicago, they would call it collar cities, like the cities all, you know, serving the collar of Chicago.

Um, I. I remember when we started telling our friends in Chicago that we were going to move to Tulsa. There was an immediate like, well, what are you going to do? Like, does Tulsa even have good pho? Like, really weird questions. You have 

Roderick Hands: to learn to ride a horse. 

Lauren Sivek: Yeah, like, where’s your cowboy hat? Do you have a boot?

And I’m like, um, no. And also very evident, and my wife told me that this would happen, because she experienced this when she moved from, she went from Tulsa to the University of Arkansas before she came to Chicago. Uh, she said, people don’t really know where Oklahoma is on a map. 

Roderick Hands: Yeah. 

Lauren Sivek: You know, like, where’s Tulsa?

Where are you? So, when you tell people you’re moving to a place that they don’t know, there’s a lot of questioning, not always based in curiosity, sometimes it’s based in [00:06:00] judgment, 

Roderick Hands: because 

Lauren Sivek: you’re choosing something smaller. 

Roderick Hands: Yeah. 

Lauren Sivek: If I, we were in the theater community, so when any of our friends said, oh, I’m moving to L.

A. or New York, Nobody really questioned it, right? I would, because financially, this would make a lot of sense, right? Or space, if you want space. Well, I wouldn’t choose New York. But I know why people chose it. Yes, support your decision, I’m really happy for you. That’s less so when you choose something smaller.

And I think part of it is, uh, Folks don’t understand, like, why bigger is better, right? And for us, actually smaller is more expensive. Because when I have a friend ask me, Hey, you wanna grab a drink on Friday? Easy. It’s an easy yes here. Uh, not only because of the cost, right, but in Chicago if I had a friend ask me to grab a drink on a Friday afternoon I would immediately ask, okay, what neighborhood are we meeting in?

Roderick Hands: Yeah. 

Lauren Sivek: Can I, am I driving? 

Roderick Hands: Um, All the [00:07:00] logistics. 

Lauren Sivek: All of the mental math and logistics that I would figure out. If I drive, okay, What time am I leaving? Because it’s going to take, if we’re meeting at 530, no, we’re going to have to push back to 6 because I’m going to have to account for traffic. Um, how quickly am I going to be able to find parking?

When I come home, will I be able to find parking in my neighborhood? Right? Uh, okay, well maybe I’ll take, uh, public transportation. Is this going to still be running? Okay, well when be leaving at this time? Um, I think the two things that I had to, like the two habits I had to break. Moving to Tulsa was, you don’t have to actually park at the first available spot that you see.

Um, the first time my wife and I like came out to dinner at Cherry Street, I parked at like, um, Yeah, 

Roderick Hands: I 

Lauren Sivek: parked at Utica and 15th because we were like going down to like, meet Casino or something. And Aaron was like, you don’t have to, I was like, no, no, no, I found a spot. And then we just walked, and there’s parking, right?

You 

Roderick Hands: passed like four or five or ten spots on the way. And 

Lauren Sivek: I didn’t have to plan for 20 minutes in delays. 

Roderick Hands: I was 

Lauren Sivek: good. Every time we would meet [00:08:00] somebody, I would get there 20 minutes early because I was. So trained to, you know, account for traffic or an accident. And there’s 

Roderick Hands: something good that came, you know.

Oh, gosh. You’re 20 minutes early for everything. I 

Lauren Sivek: always, yeah, I’m never late. My wife on the other hand, just kidding. That’s 

Roderick Hands: funny. 

Lauren Sivek: But it’s just, uh, there’s not been, it’s been a gift. 

Roderick Hands: Mm hmm. 

Lauren Sivek: Um, and I think there’s not a single thing of joy that I found in Chicago I didn’t sacrifice in moving to Tulsa.

Awesome. 

Roderick Hands: So, when this podcast airs, I think we would have had released the Tulsa Remote Program Podcast. Oh! So, this is a good pub for if you’re looking to work remote and move to Tulsa. You get an extra 10, 000. Here’s some good. This is a great segment on why Tulsa. 

Lauren Sivek: Oh, yeah. Well, and I’m also a Tulsa remoter.

Yeah. Oh 

Roderick Hands: you are. Yeah There we go. Yeah, it says my wife. So we 

Lauren Sivek: got really lucky. There we go. Our household. We were able to [00:09:00] leverage our We each received 10, 000 and we immediately put it as a down payment on a house. Awesome. I Frequently it is easy for me to talk about how much I love Tulsa. 

Roderick Hands: Mm 

Lauren Sivek: hmm. And also the Tulsa remote program is just a really It’s really cool.

I think one of the things that I don’t, maybe you don’t have this problem, Roderick, you seem very charming. But one of the worries that my wife and I had when we were moving from Chicago to Tulsa was, will we be able to make any friends? Because it’s hard to make friends as an adult. Um, and we don’t have children, so we knew that we didn’t have like that baked in.

Uh huh. Like, you know. Picking up kids from school and meeting other parents. And so, what’s wonderful about Tulsa Remote is they, they intentionally create a lot of spaces for you to interact with other people and find out like, oh, where did you move here from? Oh, what brought you to Tulsa? Um, what do you do?

And, uh, you can really quickly find your people. I’ve met, well these, these two other couples who, [00:10:00] it’s hard for me, we had dinner on Friday night together and we were talking about, um, like an infamous Oscar moment from a couple of years ago, and one of our friends, Cynthia, said, Wait, I didn’t know you then, because it’s hard for us to remember, like, pre this group of friends.

Um, and even though, like, they moved to, one of them moved into Tulsa during the pandemic, or like, 2020, like, one of the first hundred people. Yeah. Um, so they’ve all been here, and it’s just like. Tulsa doesn’t, we know that it exists and we know that there was a time in our lives where we didn’t know each other, but there’s something that Tulsa remote is doing that’s really special and the people they are bringing to this community who, um, in addition to having a really positive economic impact, 

Roderick Hands: I think 

Lauren Sivek: that you probably know the stat is every dollar they’ve spent, it yields like 13 in revenue for the city.

But you know, My wife and one of our dear friends are pursuing board membership at the [00:11:00] Oxley Nature Center. Once a month my wife and I volunteer at the food bank. They’re, they’re charitable, giving people that they are bringing to Tulsa. Without the goal of, I think everybody was like, oh, if you bring all of these people, housing markets gonna go up.

Yeah. It’s like, well actually, we can have a really positive economic and community impact with folks who just want to be part of a community in a way that sometimes in these bigger cities It’s, it’s really easy to feel really small. And I think in Tulsa, there’s just a real opportunity to make an impact.

Opportunities. 

Roderick Hands: Yeah. That’s great. Cool. 

Lauren Sivek: Highly, highly recommend Tulsa and Tulsa remote. 

Roderick Hands: Awesome. We’ll get there. Well, let’s talk about the op project. Um, tell it, you know, when it started, what the vision and mission is for it and what you guys focus on. 

Lauren Sivek: Yeah. Well, we were, we were founded in 2017. So before I got here, um, but the, the goal then and the goal now continues [00:12:00] to be young people should have access to high quality afterschool programs.

And so we were started with funding from the Wallace Foundation and we were serving seven school sites in North Tulsa when the pandemic happened. Our work, uh, had to We had to adjust and we had to adapt to serve a new education landscape. Um, and so I have to talk about our work right now as like three chapters.

We have our origin chapter, which was pre pandemic. We have, um, the, you know, pandemic years of like 20 to 22, which I’m, I’m hesitant to say like we’re, we’re, we’re navigating a new normal, right? People are still It’s like getting COVID, dying from COVID, like, I’m not saying that like, oh, and that’s good.

That’s done now. Yeah, 

Roderick Hands: there’s definitely a, a marker. 

Lauren Sivek: Yes. And so, you know, now we’re navigating this new normal, but we went from seven school sites to 63 school sites. And we were able to leverage our partnership with Tulsa public schools and [00:13:00] COVID 19 relief funding to reach thousands of students. Um, and.

partner with 30 youth serving organizations over a three year period. And so COVID 19 funding made possible a lot of investment in expanded learning. When I say expanded learning, that’s before school, after school and summer school programs. And now, as we’re navigating our new normal for the op, our vision for Tulsa is a city where every young person has access to and participates in expanded learning programs.

And so we do that by, um, serving as an intermediary and working, um, Within the center of this education ecosystem with, you know, we’re in communication with district leaders. What are your goals? Like, how can expanded learning programming support in school goals related to literacy and chronic absenteeism?

Um, we track a lot of data, and so that we are really figuring out which program partners are having the biggest impact on chronic absenteeism. Oh, it looks [00:14:00] like Youth at Heart’s program, they have a 92 percent average daily attendance for the kids enrolled in their program. That’s great data. When we were thinking about how do we get kids to school, I know many kids that I grew up with, they attended school for after school programming, whether it was a club, um, or theater or sports, like that was the reason why they came.

And so now That COVID 19 relief funding is, is gone, right? It ended in October 2024. We are really trying to figure out how do we make the best case for why investing in out of school time programming is not just important for, um, a thriving school district or districts, because we have multiple school districts that touch Tulsa, but it’s also part of a, like, the vitality of Tulsa.

Yeah. 

Roderick Hands: For sure. Yeah, I mean, that makes total sense with, um, I mean, just, just giving something, uh, to, to have the kids [00:15:00] do. Yes. I mean, it’s really, like, keeping them busy, keeping them interested, engaging them. Um, so not, not only just Preventing them from being bored and getting into trouble, but also helping, um, really develop them and, uh, the areas that they want to.

And um, yeah, so that’s, that’s really awesome. And I learned preschool programming is a thing. I didn’t, I didn’t really think about that. I just, I always think of afterschool. Absolutely. Um, so what does that look like before school? 

Lauren Sivek: Yep. So we have a program called Tulsa Enriched where we fund teachers to lead.

Expanded learning programs. And I also had not really thought about that before school time. Um, I mean, because we do have many schools that start at 7. 30. And so it’s hard to make the case for a 6. 30 program. I think it’d be impossible for me to find leaders who want to, who want to work with. 3rd or 4th graders at 7.

30, right? Um, but it was in a conversation with our partners at Union Public Schools where they shared, you know, [00:16:00] one of the challenges we have is our 6th graders, they have the 6th and 7th grade center, which is Oklahoma’s largest middle school. Their 6th graders don’t start the school day until 9, but their 7th graders start the school day at 7.

30. And so they have a gap. So imagine if you are like me and you have a younger sibling. And you’re young, I go to school at 730, but my younger sister, Amy, doesn’t have school start till nine. There’s a problem. Like, and that’s an obstacle, not only, um, for, you know, just general educate, like coordinating schedules, but also for working families.

And so in partnership with union, we are supporting. I think 15 before school clubs that are led by teachers this semester. And so through Tulsa and Rich, we’re actually funding 146 clubs across 43 school sites. Wow. We led, we funded 115 clubs last semester. Mm-hmm . Across 36 school sites. So there’s no deficit of teachers who want to lead, but there’s a little opportunity for us to think, how can [00:17:00] we really, how can we be strategic mm-hmm

In the limited funds that we have. And so one of those is thinking about the before school program. And so at the 6th and 7th grade center, we’re funding clubs from 730 to 9 for 6th grade, and then from 230 to 4 for 7th grade. 

Roderick Hands: Okay. Does, uh, and you mentioned the teachers leaving. Is it, what percentage is teacher led versus not?

Oh, it’s, it’s virtually 

Lauren Sivek: 100%. Some 

Roderick Hands: are on site and some are off though, right? 

Lauren Sivek: Well, it depends on the program, right? So we have some of our partner organizations, uh, who we support through data, professional development, continuous quality improvement. So, uh, a partner organization like the Common Good, they have their own off site programming.

The Zone Academy and Touch Tulsa, they have their own off site programming. But a lot of expanded learning programming does take place at the school sites. And so for our Tulsa Enriched Program, all of that is [00:18:00] currently taking place on site at our schools. 

Roderick Hands: Cool. 

Lauren Sivek: Yeah. 

Roderick Hands: And do they have, uh, are there academic requirements?

To be in, so do they have to like meet a certain standard? What does that look like? 

Lauren Sivek: You know, for us, we try to really think about the value add of expanded learning and not um, leverage it as something that might be punitive. So if a young person is underperforming in math, um, restricting them access to expanded learning, we’re like, Oh, I don’t know that that’s actually going to, um, serve the goal, right?

Um, but there is an opportunity for us to think about like. If attendance, if a young person is performing low in math or reading, right, the, there was a, the research of the last couple of years, um, is not good for literacy. 

Roderick Hands: Yeah. 

Lauren Sivek: Um, and that’s not unique to Tulsa. Yeah. And it’s not unique to Oklahoma. Mm hmm.

Like, um, the academic loss. during the pandemic is something that we’re going to continue [00:19:00] to investigate and research and figure out like, how do we, how do we like meet the gap that currently exists? And so what we would advocate for is What are the barriers for a young person to attend school? Because if a young person isn’t attending school, they’re not going to be learning at school.

And so we know that it’s, it’s compounded by lack to, lack of expanded learning programs, but also challenges in transportation. Um, one of the things that Monroe Nichols talked about on the campaign trail was, uh, and I know this is a little, it all goes together. Yeah. Um, we have stray dog populations, and so if you’re thinking about an elementary student whose school day starts at 7.

30 and it’s dark in the morning and you live in a community where there are stray dogs, that’s going to be a barrier to participation. And so before we create any more barriers, if it’s a low performance in academic, our advocacy is like, how do we remove the existing ones to participation? 

Roderick Hands: Yeah. [00:20:00] Hmm. It’s very interesting.

Lauren Sivek: Yeah. 

Roderick Hands: There’s so much that goes into it. Yes. I mean, it’s, it’s more than just, yeah, let’s set up a program. Right. Like there’s, there’s so many different, the logistics of it, the, um, and just, and also, I, I mean, I, I see a big need out there for, um, just, providing opportunities for people who don’t have a whole lot of opportunities.

Um, so do they, how much is geared towards educational skill versus just like an entertainment, let’s just keep them off the street type of 

Lauren Sivek: effort? Well, I’m glad that you’re talking, one of the, the things that we, we often talk about is Like, an investment in expanded 

Roderick Hands: learning 

Lauren Sivek: is an investment in Tulsa, or it’s an investment in like, in Chicago, or in L.

A., or wherever you are. And that’s because it’s not only supporting education opportunities, but it’s also supporting like, economic and community based ones. Why is [00:21:00] it important to keep kids busy after school? Well, in Oklahoma, juvenile crime peaks between the hours of 2 and 6 p. m., right? Um, when I was visiting a school last school year.

A student said to me, if I wasn’t here, I’d probably be home alone. And so, a lot of our program, we don’t fund tutoring clubs. Not that we don’t see the value in tutoring. There’s actually a lot of state funding and extra funding elsewhere for tutoring clubs. We think about enrichment clubs that can also, uh, meet academic goals.

And so it might be at some schools we’re funding a handful of book clubs where the teacher, club leader, is intentionally trying to find books with protagonists who feel familiar to the students they are trying to reach. And that’s an opportunity for us to improve. improve student literacy, right? But, um, it’s not,

it’s, it’s intentionally not a [00:22:00] tutoring or just academic focus. For 

Roderick Hands: sure. 

Lauren Sivek: Yeah. 

Roderick Hands: Yeah. 

Lauren Sivek: Um, but we think we can feed two birds with one seed. 

Roderick Hands: Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. That’s a good way to put it. 

Lauren Sivek: I’m trying to use less violent language in 2025. Why are we killing birds? Right? We don’t need to kill two birds with one stone.

You know? 

Roderick Hands: Yeah. 

Lauren Sivek: We’re just trying to feed as many birds as I can. There we go. And that’s every non profit. 

Roderick Hands: Yeah. 

Lauren Sivek: Right? We have few seeds. And I think that’s the other thing that I think is unique about the op. So one of our One of our initiatives is data, and we want to know where programming is taking place in Tulsa in real time.

And so the opportunity there is, we tracked 5, 521 youth from this past semester, um, with the help of 33 other partner organizations. And so we populate a map, and it’s based on, um, TPS school district right now, and the city council district, so we can say, [00:23:00] Where is programming taking place, and where is programming not taking place?

And so, while we’re investing in some communities, how can we ensure that we’re not creating deficits in others? And that is another opportunity, like why having an intermediary like the op is really important. 

Roderick Hands: So you mentioned, um, also like attendance rates and, uh, funding. Maybe more projects that have a higher attendance rate.

Do you, how far into the weeds do you get with finding those obstacles that, like you mentioned, of well, maybe if we just remove, find it, identify an obstacle and remove it, this attendance rate will go up. Um, and then how, you know, how much of that is, is that? It’s 

Lauren Sivek: very easy when working with, uh, data and social scientists, which I am not.

My background is in humanities, um, English and theater, and then a master’s in non profit work. Uh. Data scientists and [00:24:00] social scientists will be the first to admit that they can get into the weeds. And they can, um, it’s kind of like a hound on a scent. Right? And they will be in pursuit of the why. And, okay, well, I think this, and let me continue to verify.

So what does the data tell me right now? And what the data tells me right now is that in school year 23 24, so last school year, kids engaged in expanded learning programming, so after school and summer programming, attended two to three more days than their peers not engaged. Now, two to three days is not going to fix chronic absenteeism, but that’s really helpful.

And the other data that we found is that in schools where We saw at least five programs and an expanded learning coordinator or liaison, like somebody who’s organizing everything across the school community, an even more positive impact on Chronic absenteeism and independence. You know, we are trying to work with a couple of our local [00:25:00] data partners, like 9B, to figure out what is the next layer, so that we can start to identify the impact on literacy, and then maybe the, you know, future impacts on STEM related curiosities.

Roderick Hands: How much of your funding comes from big organizations? Whether, okay, maybe there’s, you tell me if I’m wrong, but maybe private? Um, giving, um, just from individuals, uh, or foundations, uh, and then corporations like maybe, like big corporations or like Oklahoma City Thunder or like different things like that.

Um, and then. Government grants or anything like that. 

Lauren Sivek: Our funding model has evolved. Um, and what is the, the portfolio now looks a lot different than it did during the pandemic. Because COVID 19 relief funding is all government funding. And government funding moves really fast during the pandemic. And so, there are many organizations, and this is not unique to the op, that are now navigating a [00:26:00] loss.

Our budget went from 3. 5 to 1. 2 million dollars. And that 2 million dollars was Government funding. You know, that was ESSER dollars, which was, um, focused on expanded learning and, you know, went to our partners at Tulsa Public Schools and then we administered it on behalf of TPS. Now, um, most of our funding is private.

It’s foundation support, um, some individual giving. And now we are starting to cultivate new corporation, corporate partners. Oklahoma Natural Gas is funding. Some programs through their OERB education program, fossils to fuel at a handful of school sites. But there’s always an opportunity for corporations to give more if any are listening.

Roderick Hands: Yeah, well, and that’s why I tee it up. Yeah, so 

Lauren Sivek: I mean there are a few ways to we can, for us, with Tulsa Enriched. It costs us about 200 per student to provide [00:27:00] that young person with 54 hour, no, 84 hours of after school programming. Okay. 

Roderick Hands: And so how many hours over a month? 

Lauren Sivek: Yeah, it did 90 minutes a week, so let’s say 6 hours a month.

Roderick Hands: Okay. 

Lauren Sivek: Um, but we’re looking at it from a semester, so 12 weeks in the fall, 16 weeks in the spring. It’s a really great ROI. Because where can you, you have children. Yeah. Um, 200 divided by 84 hours I’m suspecting is not an hourly rate that you have access to. No. Right? Um, and so when we were thinking about like where, like we want young people to feel safe.

We want them to have, um, dynamic programs that they have access to while being able to support working families who are, um, not able to pick up their children at 2. 30. Like, this is a natural opportunity. And the, the more that we invest in, in expanded learning, which provides free and low cost, uh, after school, before school, and summer programming, that [00:28:00] means that working families can spend More funds elsewhere.

Roderick Hands: Mm hmm. 

Lauren Sivek: And so there is There’s a recent study that is it’s not as big as the Tulsa remote 1 to 13 But for every 1 you spend on expanded learning it yields 3 in revenue for a city Mm hmm. And so the Tulsa only grows when it invests in expanded learning. 

Roderick Hands: Awesome Is there anything that we haven’t touched on that you feel like we need to Address or you’d like to highlight?

Lauren Sivek: you know the the I don’t have children. And I think it’s easy for folks who don’t have children to sometimes think, Ah, I don’t really need to worry about what’s happening in the school system. Or I don’t really need to worry about what’s happening, like, Whether or not a young person has access to an after school program, it doesn’t really affect me.

And I think, and this is one of the conversations that I have with a lot of my friends, like, actually it does. Having a thriving school system. is really critical to [00:29:00] Tulsa’s vitality. And for Tulsa to become the city that it is continually, like, growing and pursuing, we have to be anchored by an education system that supports young people before school, during school, and after school.

And so, I think for those folks who Don’t have a student in school to be thinking about like, Oh, what are the ways like that? This actually benefits me and somebody wants to say, Oh, well, it keeps kids out of Sephora after school, right? Like, and I’ll take it. Um, but it also, it just helps create the next generation of Tulsans who are, Um, supported by opportunities that are rooted in positive youth development, um, and help create well rounded citizens for all 

Roderick Hands: of us.

Yeah. Awesome. And then, going off of the theme, Tulsa is home. What would, I know you’ve been here for what, two and a half years? Two and a 

Lauren Sivek: half years. 

Roderick Hands: And [00:30:00] so, what would, and we touched on it at the beginning, but just to kind of recap and summary, um, what you, what you touched on. Why is Tulsa home to you?

Lauren Sivek: Tulsa is home. Hmm. Hmm. I’m trying to think of the best way to say it succinctly. Um, for me, I’ve never felt more fulfilled. by a place than I have in Tulsa. Awesome. And I just think this is a city that continues to refill your cup over and over again. Awesome. 

Roderick Hands: That was very well put. 

Lauren Sivek: Oh, great. 

Roderick Hands: I’m glad. Well, uh, we’re going to do a lightning round with some questions.

Okay. As you haven’t seen. It’s about Tulsa, uh, but this, uh, basically concludes the actual interview portion. So, uh, but appreciate you for watching and to learn more, we’re going to have links and [00:31:00] everything on the show notes and send those out and share it on the Tulsa daily and, and all that. But, um, I appreciate you coming in.

Lauren Sivek: Thank you so much for having me. This was great. 

Roderick Hands: Absolutely.

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