Board & Staff
Officers
Alba Weaver, Chair – Economic Development Project, OG&E
Leslie Osborn, Vice-Chair – Oklahoma State Labor Commissioner
Dr. Leslie Hudson, Secretary – Epidemiologist, Community Volunteer
Stephanie Mendenhall, CPA – CFO, Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
Elizabeth Eickman – Director, Kirkpatrick Family Fund
Rev. Dr. Lori Walke, Immediate Past Chair – Associate Minister, Mayflower Congregational UCC Church
Members
Dr. Teri Bell – Retired, Executive Director of Student Services, OKCPS
Paco Balderrama – Deputy Chief, Oklahoma City Police Department
Shante Fenner – Oklahoma State Department of Education
Dr. Nelson Fong – Obstetrician & Gynecologist, Lakeside Women’s Hospital
Eran Harrill – OK National Guard
Jorge Hernandez – President & Senior Partner, Tango PR
Penny Voss – VP of Development, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
STAFF
Laura Lang, CFRE, CEO
Laura Lang is the CEO of Thrive: Sexual Health Collective for Youth. Laura is a nonprofit leader with more than twenty years of dedicated service in the social services and social justice arena. Her extensive experience includes positions at leading nonprofits in the Oklahoma City area, including the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) and the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. Her well-rounded skills include executive-level management, strategic planning, fundraising, communications, project management, program development, and budget and financial oversight. Laura graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Journalism. She earned the Certified Fundraising Executive certification in 2008. She and her husband, George, and their son, Sam, live in Oklahoma City with their dogs Ozzie and Finn.
Brittney Criswell, MPH, CHES, Director of Strategic Partnerships
Brittney holds a Master’s of Public Health degree from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and is a Certified Health Educator Specialist through the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. Brittney spent five and a half years at the University of Central Oklahoma, where she served as the Assistant Director for Health Promotion and Outreach. Through her time at Central, Brittney led the charge in sexual health promotion on campus through collaborating with community agencies such as OKC-County Health Department, Planned Parenthood, and Teen emPower!
Under her leadership, initiatives such as HPV Vaccination Clinics, Sexual Health Awareness Week, Sexual Attitude Reassessment training, birth control workshops, and sexual health peer educators became the norm on a traditionally conservative college campus. Brittney has a passion for empowering young people to choose behaviors that promote health and strengthen relationships and is committed to the ideals and endeavors within Thrive and its collaboration.
Brittney’s favorite modes of self-care are running, gardening and interior decorating, but she most enjoys spending time with her husband Jeff and their son Boston.
Sharayah Fore, MA, Director of Data and Evaluation
Sharayah graduated magna cum laude with a masters in experimental psychology from the University of Central Oklahoma. While at UCO, she was a researcher and teacher's assistant for multiple classes while also being a member of the Interpersonal Processes and Social Cognition Laboratory, holding the position of lab coordinator for two years.
Sharayah has six years of experience working with Oklahoma Health Care Authority as a senior research analyst with the majority of her time being in the reporting and data unit. In that time, she helped develop several new evaluations and summary reports as well as served on multi-agency workgroups to fulfill public health needs in the community. Additionally, she served as head of the DSS user committee to establish reporting best practices, develop new user training and disseminate system updates and changes.
Sharayah is dedicated to driving decision-making with data to make informed decisions that are able to impact the most vulnerable populations. She is an advocate of educating young women to help them to reach their goals in life and empower the next generation of leaders.
Sharayah's favorite modes of self-care are playing volleyball, hiking outdoors and playing any sort of board games. Most of all, she enjoys spending time with her son, Desmond.
