Our Approach

Providing the greatest opportunity for everyone to succeed

Since we began our work in 1999, GKFF has been committed to making Tulsa a place where every person and family can flourish, no matter their background. We firmly believe no child is responsible for the circumstances of their birth. That belief drives our support for initiatives which work to reverse the generational cycle of poverty — especially for very young children and their families — and create long-term opportunities that empower communities, foster sustainable economic growth and ensure lasting social impact.

“Why should a child born in disadvantaged circumstances have less opportunity and less potential for success in life, however defined, than a child who is born with that opportunity. It seemed to be about as morally a compelling purpose in philanthropy that you can have.”

George Kaiser
Founder of GKFF

What we do

Our foundation seeks positive change in Tulsa by leveraging evidence-based practices, collaborating with public and private partners and meeting the pressing needs of our community.

This approach draws upon successful programs and strategies from across the country and focuses on meaningful areas of impact in Tulsa: Early Childhood Development and Education; Community Well-being and Justice; City Vibrancy and Strong Neighborhoods.

We pursue efforts that make a true difference for Tulsans — from creating access to early education and providing assistance to young parents, to uplifting the arts and creating welcoming public spaces.

The challenges facing our community are complex and our methods for creating solutions require constant review and evaluation. Not everything goes as planned, and setbacks and failures are inevitable. Our team, along with the programs we support, continuously monitors outcomes and adapts our approaches to increase the odds for children and families to realize the promise of the American dream.

In all of our work and the initiatives we support, we promote the values of our diverse community.

How we do it

Evidence-Based Practices‍

We generate leading-edge projects and import practices that have been proven to produce the outcomes we seek to make. We work with local partners to adapt established national programs — like Educare — to Tulsa and build efforts that are informed by research and data-driven insights. ‍

Public-Private Partnerships‍

We pursue the best possible solutions to improve the lives of Tulsans, leveraging both public and private expertise and resources. The private sector excels at testing new ideas on a small scale, adjusting as needed and then sharing successful innovations nationally.

Although the public sector has the resources to scale programs, it often takes a more cautious approach to implementation. GKFF bridges this gap by piloting creative solutions, such as Women in Recovery and Tulsa Remote, and presenting results to the public sector for broader adoption. This combines private sector agility with public sector scale. We also collaborate with national foundations and organizations to bring the best resources to Tulsa.‍

Focusing on our community‍

We pursue change through a specific focus on solutions that will benefit Tulsans. Every program we support tailors its efforts to address the challenges facing our community. Our partners and team consists of people who live in Tulsa and know firsthand the needs of our unique communities.

Model for other cities‍

We are sharing our approach to creating pathways to equal opportunity with other foundations, cities and changemakers from around the world. GKFF has close philanthropic and public sector partners across the state and country with whom we closely collaborate and always welcome the opportunity to partner and learn from others.