Neil Hann Leadership Award
This award was established in 2017 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the OTPC, while honoring one of the founding members of Oklahoma Turning Point, Neil Hann. The Neil Hann Leadership Award annually honors an individual who displays innovation, inspiration, and leadership by fostering a culture of health in Oklahoma. This annual award winner makes outstanding contributions to protecting and promoting the health of Oklahomans well beyond their normal work duties.
Award recipients will be selected based on demonstrated achievements in the following areas:
- Provide local and organizational leadership to advance positive health practices;
- Demonstrating a degree of innovation and creativity to positively influence the advancement of public and community health;
- Inspiring diverse collaboration through strategic partnerships or communities of practice to promote a culture of health in Oklahoma
2025 Award Recipient-Allison Siegers
Allison Seigers exemplifies the spirit and substance of the Neil Hann Leadership Award. As Executive Director of Rural Health Projects, Inc. (RHP) in Enid, Allison has dedicated her career to advancing a culture of health in Oklahoma through innovation, collaboration, and community-rooted leadership. Her impact reaches far beyond the borders of northwestern Oklahoma, influencing statewide initiatives and serving as a model for public health leadership rooted in trust, integrity, and action.
Allison’s leadership has created ripple effects across Oklahoma’s rural health landscape. Through RHP, she has built a robust infrastructure that supports regional health improvement collaboratives, cross-sector coalitions, workforce development, and public health emergency response. She brings a deep understanding of both systems and community needs, and consistently bridges the two with solutions that are practical, scalable, and people-centered.
Allison is a relentless advocate for rural health equity. She has cultivated and sustained multi-county health coalitions focused on addressing the social drivers of health, from housing and transportation to behavioral health and chronic disease prevention. These coalitions are not performative; they are action-oriented, data-informed, and community-led, as Allison ensures they are driven by local priorities and lived experiences. Under her leadership, RHP has facilitated local Community Health Needs Assessments, developed implementation plans, secured numerous local, state, federal, and philanthropic grants, and led capacity-building strategies across the region, ensuring that even the smallest communities have a voice in shaping their own health futures.
What sets Allison apart is her ability to strategically convene unsuspecting partners and transform relationships into results. She is deeply respected by healthcare systems, local governments, educators, Tribal and state agencies, and faith-based and nonprofit leaders. Through her leadership, Rural Health Projects has built longstanding partnerships with regional hospitals, philanthropic organizations, health departments, academic institutions, and social service agencies. Her collaborative efforts have directly led to improved health programming, expanded behavioral health services, and more responsive emergency preparedness networks in rural areas that are often overlooked.
Community Health Champion Awards
The Community Health Champion Award recognizes the service and dedication of individuals and groups who work to improve the health and wellness of their communities through community-centered efforts.
The OTPC encourages nominations of initiatives, projects, or local events across Oklahoma that serve through strategic partnerships, coalitions, faith communities, and more. Community Health Champions should be committed to supporting community-voice, promoting health equity, and removing barriers for local participation in initiatives, projects, or local events.
Award recipients will be selected based on demonstrated achievements in the following areas:
- Impact on target population/s
- Established goals and objectives
- Demonstrated systemic, policy or behavior change
- Sustainability of efforts
- Cross-sector partnerships
- Barrier removal for participation
- Application of health equity principles
- Community-voice utilization
2025 Community Health Champion Award Recipients- Cherokee County Health Services Council, Executive Director, Rozlyn Locust
2025 Community Health Champion Award Recipient– Metriarch
A Transformational Impact on Oklahoma’s Health Landscape
Metriarch’s work directly addresses the need for intersectional, systems-informed change that centers the lived experience of women across diverse geographies, identities, and health journeys. At its core, Metriarch is a policy, data, and narrative organization that lifts up women’s voices to inform, influence, and transform public health priorities. Their impact is felt statewide, from legislative hearings to living rooms; from TikTok channels to tribal communities.
Through tools like the Metriarch Data Look Book, the Oklahoma Legislative Tracker, and the l Lady Charts events, Metriarch has dramatically increased public access to trusted, digestible information. These tools don’t just inform, they activate. They are built for real people, not just policy insiders. They democratize data, humanize policy, and make civic participation accessible to those historically excluded from the decision-making table. In doing so, Metriarch removes systemic and informational barriers to participation and policy advocacy in real time.
2025 Community Health Champion Award Recipient- Monster Soup Society
Monster Soup Society is redefining what it means to advance health initiatives with and for young people in Oklahoma. Based in Oklahoma City, this youth-centered organization has built a bold, creative, and justice-driven platform that provides young people with the tools, space, and community they need to shape healthier futures, for themselves and those around them.
Monster Soup Society is not your typical health organization. It is part social movement, part community hub, and part creative force. They center youth voice, mutual aid, identity exploration, and community healing in every project they launch. Their success lies not in replicating traditional public health methods, but in radically reimagining what public health looks like when built by and for young people, especially those from BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and under-resourced community.
2025 Community Health Champion Award Recipient- Restore OKC & Parent Partnership Advisory Committee, Jonathan Veal, Co-Director
Jonathan Veal, Managing Director of RestoreOKC, Inc., exemplifies Community Health Champion criteria through transformational work addressing social determinants of health in Northeast Oklahoma City. His community-centered approach demonstrates measurable impact across all award requirements while building sustainable, equitable solutions driven by authentic community voice.
Impact on Health & Wellness: Veal eliminated a three-year food desert affecting thousands by developing The Market at Eastpoint, providing fresh produce and healthy food options where residents previously traveled miles for groceries. He created 80+ sustainable jobs across three social enterprises, directly addressing economic instability as a health determinant. His urban farming initiative employs 25 youth, building economic opportunity and food security while fostering community ownership of health solutions. Through RestoreOKC’s Family Resource Center, he supports caregivers with resources and services that strengthen family stability and community resilience.
Community-Voice and Health Equity: As Parent Advisory Committee leader, Veal facilitates monthly RestoreOKC PPAC meetings that involve finding and engaging various stakeholders, leaders, organizations, and community partners, ensuring community members drive organizational decisions rather than external assumptions. He champions community engagement in Oklahoma City Housing Authority meetings for new housing projects, using personal and professional resources because he believes “those most affected should be part of the solution.” His approach removes participation barriers by creating nurturing environments—personally handling event logistics like grilling, setup, and supply procurement—ensuring all feel welcomed whether at indoor, outdoor, advocacy, educational, or spiritual events.
Cross-Sector Partnerships and Systemic Change: Veal builds strategic partnerships across faith communities, businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. His coordination between OCHA and Northeast OKC residents demonstrates policy-level impact, shifting institutional approaches toward community-centered development. He presented at PHIG Partners Regional 6 TA webinar “Building Umbrellas of Relational Strategies,” sharing his expertise with health department teams across multiple states, demonstrating how local community engagement innovations can influence regional policy implementation.
2025 Community Health Champion Award Recipient- NEAR Science Presenters in Oklahoma
The NEAR Science Presenters in Oklahoma exemplify what it means to be Community Health Champions through their unwavering dedication to increasing understanding of how early adversity impacts health and wellness across the lifespan. Utilizing the neuroscience, epigenetics, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and resilience (NEAR) framework, this statewide group of trained presenters has become a catalytic force in shifting public understanding and driving upstream solutions to long-standing community health challenges.
Impact on Target Population/s:
The NEAR Science Presenters have delivered powerful, research-based presentations to diverse audiences including educators, healthcare professionals, faith leaders, tribal communities, nonprofits, and local government representatives. Their efforts have reached thousands of Oklahomans in both rural and urban settings, increasing awareness and sparking trauma-informed practices and system change in schools, clinics, and community programs.
2025 Community Health Champion Award Recipient- Betty Hawkins-Emory
Ms. Betty Hawkins-Emery exemplifies the essence of a Community Health Champion through her transformative, equity-centered approach to addressing health disparities across Oklahoma. As a veteran, nurse, former foster parent, and founder of Hawkins House Inc., she brings over seven decades of Northeast Oklahoma City lived experience. Her journey raising Brandon, her 18-year-old son with disabilities, authentically fuels her passionate advocacy and creates the foundation for evidence-based community health initiatives that center community voice and systematically remove barriers.
Ms. Hawkins-Emery demonstrates measurable impact on vulnerable populations through systematic programming. At Douglass High School, she helped create an innovative collaborative team comprising members with lived experience, faith community representatives, medical professionals, educators, advocates, nonprofits, and consultants. This inclusive approach established a mobile food pantry addressing food insecurity and adaptive cooking classes for students with disabilities. Using a Nigh grant she helped secure, the team acquired specialized equipment ensuring full participation regardless of ability level. Graduating students receive cookware sets supporting independent living transitions, creating lasting health impact beyond school.
2025 Community Health Champion Award Recipient- Jessica Bruckerhoff
As PC Chairman of Sunbeam Family Services Board of Directors, Policy Council Chairman/Board of Directors member, and University of Oklahoma Parent Advisory Board member, Jessica demonstrates outstanding leadership in promoting health equity and amplifying community voice. Jessica directly serves families with children under 6 through monthly newsletters containing resources, recipes, and free family-friendly activities. As a devoted mother to Walter who supports his school and attends community events, she brings authentic lived experience to her advocacy. She regularly co-facilitates OU PPAC vendor booths, promoting the benefits and community impact of parent leaders while educating broader audiences about parent-driven program development. Her expertise in activism, cross-functional team leadership, and multifaceted advocacy strengthens her community impact.
Jessica has cultivated unprecedented collaboration, bringing together OU PPAC, multiple Sunbeam Family Service parenting programs and Head Start programs, and numerous Oklahoma Head Start centers. This remarkable effort has led to the planning of a comprehensive meeting exploring innovative ways to foster collaboration of Oklahoma Head Start programs, Family Resource Centers, and parent advisor groups. Her co-presentations with OU PPAC leadership and Sunbeam Family Services have influenced practices across multiple states. Her board leadership roles demonstrate sustained commitment to systemic change through governance and policy development.
Health Innovator Award
The OTPC Policy Committee works tirelessly to promote positive health policy within the Oklahoma Legislature. Based on the policy priorities identified and adopted annually, members of the Policy Committee work alongside staffers and elected officials to move forward positive health and social care legislation. To acknowledge the work of our elected officials, the Policy Committee identifies the Health Innovator of the Year Award. The award is presented during the OTPC Awards Ceremony annually.
2025 Health Innovator Award Recipient- Senator Carri Hicks
State of Oklahoma · Assistant Democratic Floor Leader
For the past six years, Senator Hicks has elevated concerns, crafted policy and met with influential leaders to address long-term solutions for the challenges our state is facing. She serves on the Health and Human Services, Education, Finance and Subcommittee on Health and Human Services Senate Committees. She is the author for Senate Interim Study, #25-44 which shows the sustainability of community and school-based family resource centers with public and private partnerships.
2025 Health Innovator Award Recipient- Rep. Tammy West
Oklahoma State Representative Tammy West is proudly serving again as the Majority Whip in her fifth term and previously served as Majority Leader during her fourth term in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. This is after being elected by her peers to serve as the Caucus vice chair her first year in office, and later as Caucus chair. West currently serves on the Board of Directors for RISE, Re-entry Investment in Student Education and is a Prison Fellowship member. She has been effective in enacting legislation that provides for a victim-centered, restorative justice deferred prosecution program, while still promoting public safety and protecting victims. In 2021, West received the “Bulldog Award” from the District Attorney’s Council for her “fight to improve criminal justice” in Oklahoma. She is the author for House Interim Study, #25-130, Sustainability of community and school-based family resource Centers with public and private partnership.
Turning Point Trailblazer Award
Launched in 2022, during the 25th Anniversary Celebration of Turning Point, 25 individuals and entities were identified as “Turning Point Trailblazers.” The honorees were identified through the OTPC Executive Council as those who were and continue to be instrumental in the formation and sustainment of OTPC.
Beginning in 2023, “Turning Point Trailblazers” can be nominated by the broader community. Turning Point Trailblazers are individuals or entities paving the way for improvements in health and social care across Oklahoma. One new Trailblazer will be honored annually.
Nominees for the “Turning Point Trailblazer” award will embody:
- Grit, a fierce determination and willingness to do the tough stuff;
- Fire, a passion for public health and the community
- Curiosity, a drive to learn more from individuals in the communities we serve
- Balance, a commitment to ensuring we plan and act with equity-driven purpose
2025 Turning Point Trailblazer Award Recipient-Lauren Larson
As the Senior Manager of Food and Health at Hunger Free Oklahoma, Lauran leads with clarity, compassion, and conviction. She co-leads the Oklahoma Food is Medicine Coalition and Oklahoma Nutrition Security Task Force, bringing together over 250 diverse stakeholders from healthcare, food systems, policy, transportation, and economic development. These are not easy spaces to navigate, and yet Lauran thrives in them—unafraid to challenge outdated models or question traditional power dynamics. Her approach is rooted in alignment, not ego; impact, not prestige.
Her leadership of a $1 million USDA WIC Innovation Grant is a perfect example of her fire in action. Instead of accepting low WIC participation as a statistic, Lauran asked, Why is this happening? What can we do differently? And then she did something different. She redesigned access pathways, cut through bureaucratic hurdles, and orchestrated a multi-agency collaboration with four sub-contracts—each one meticulously tracked, evaluated, and executed under her leadership. That’s not just management; that’s mission-driven innovation.
Lauran is an expert group facilitator, a confident public speaker, and an “engaging and inspiring mentor and trainer,” as described in her resume. She’s as comfortable presenting complex strategies to national audiences as she is leading grassroots workshops in rural Oklahoma. At the Oklahoma State Department of Health, she facilitated the creation of the state’s first 5-Year Obesity Prevention Plan, bringing together over 300 stakeholders to align on a shared vision. She didn’t just produce a document—she built infrastructure, fostered ownership, and ensured the plan centered food access, health equity, and sustainable community-clinical linkages.
She’s also been a lead wellness coordinator, a public health strategist, and a frontline caseworker—never losing sight of who she’s working for: the community. Her roles across state and local agencies have taught her that systems only serve people well when they’re intentionally designed to be inclusive, adaptive, and equitable. In her words, “health is a human right”—and she lives that belief in every project she touches.
OTPC Young Community Health Professional of the Year (40 and younger)
A new award in 2023, the OTPC would like to begin recognizing the deep impacts young professionals, 40 years old and younger, are making in community health across Oklahoma. Through honoring our young professionals, we hope to encourage their innovative spirits and provide them with a platform for elevating their work state-wide. OTPC looks forward to recognizing the talent of our young professionals in the health and social care sectors across Oklahoma.
Young Community Health Professionals of the Year demonstrate the following characteristics through their work:
- Innovative, solution-oriented, strategic
- Collaborative, inclusive, partner
- Motivator, encourager, supporter
- Dedication, commitment, determination
2025 OTPC Young Community Health Professional of the Year-Taylor Holland
Taylor Holland is a public health visionary whose commitment to rural and Indigenous health equity has already left an indelible mark on Oklahoma’s communities. A proud citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Taylor embodies the very essence of what it means to be a young professional working to improve community health: grounded in cultural identity, driven by data-informed strategy, and relentlessly focused on the needs of communities often left behind, Taylor is a light for all those she encounters.
Previously serving as the Community Health Worker Program Manager at the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), Taylor worked to redefine what is possible for young leaders in state-level roles. They have spearheaded statewide infrastructure for community health workers (CHWs), managed multimillion-dollar federal investments, and cultivated a collaborative model that now serves Tribal, rural, and historically marginalized communities across Oklahoma. Through this work, Taylor has centered lived experience and local leadership, building a more resilient and inclusive public health system that reflects Oklahoma’s diversity.
Taylor’s impact is especially evident in her work co-leading the statewide CATCH-UP Oklahoma initiative for OSDH, which established more than 450 community-based COVID-19 testing events across underserved communities. These sites, under Taylor’s leadership, have evolved into lasting public health assets that now serve as hubs for local response efforts across Oklahoma. Taylor’s visionary thinking has catalyzed millions in sustained local investments, proof that even in the face of crisis, community-rooted infrastructure can flourish when led with integrity and humility.
In every role she takes on, whether presenting at conference, learning her own native language, or co-leading the state’s CHW Coalition with Tribal partners, and now serving as a PhD student in Rural and Indigenous Health, Taylor brings a rare combination of cultural humility, systems knowledge, and tactical leadership. She is mentoring a new generation of public health professionals and opening doors for Native students, especially young women, who now see themselves reflected in her example. Taylor is not just changing community health she is rebuilding trust, restoring visibility, and redefining what equity-driven leadership looks like in Oklahoma.
