Criminal Justice Reform
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- 4thOklahoma has the fourth highest rate of female incarceration in the nation.
- 72%decrease in the number of women sent to prison from Tulsa County since efforts to end the cycle of incarceration began in 2009.
- 3,300individuals have received documentation support, rides to court and appointments and help enrolling in SNAP and Medicaid through JusticeLink
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Breaking the cycle
The consequences of incarceration and familial separation are devastating.
The cost of mass incarceration
In Oklahoma, mass incarceration has deprived too many families the chance at a prosperous, or even stable, future.
When parents are incarcerated, thousands of children are left behind — often in unsafe conditions and separated from their families. In many cases, prison is not cost-effective, does not enhance public safety, fails to promote true rehabilitation and places children at far greater risk of entering the criminal justice system.
Our approach
Recognizing that the challenges of the criminal legal system are complex and require constant creativity, collaboration, review and evaluation, GKFF uses evidence-based practices and programs to address problems.
What we support
We invest in programs that provide cost-effective solutions to public safety, promote true rehabilitation and improve the lives of young children and their families in Tulsa. The programs we support help:
- Reunite and strengthen families and communities affected by incarceration
- Create alternatives to incarceration which affect communities that are disproportionately impacted by the criminal legal system
- Provide reentry programs and rehabilitative resources to formerly incarcerated people, especially women and mothers
- Enhance access to quality legal representation for individuals who can’t afford it
- Enable meaningful progress to create safer communities for children and families
Women in Recovery is the best program we have in Oklahoma.”
Driving change within the community
Our Team
Amy Santee
BioAmy Santee
Chief Program Officer
Amy Monsour Santee is a chief program officer at GKFF. She joined the team in 2006 and is responsible for the foundation’s investments in areas related to female incarceration and criminal justice reform. Santee helped launch several new initiatives in Tulsa including Women in Recovery, Center for Employment Opportunities and, most recently, Still She Rises. She also manages Tulsa Community Foundation’s Oklahoma Justice Fund, a funding collaborative working to boost economic mobility and reduce incarceration across Oklahoma. Santee currently serves on the boards of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, Still She Rises and Oklahoma Justice Fund. She is also appointed to the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Planning and Policy Council and CEO advisory council. Santee graduated Order of the Coif from University of Oklahoma College of Law in 2001, where she served as research editor of the Oklahoma Law Review. Prior to joining GKFF, she practiced real estate law at the firm of Conner & Winters and served as in-house counsel at WilTel Communications. Amy is married to Stephen Santee and has two children, Sarah and Jack.
LaBrisa Williams-Hurling
BioLaBrisa Williams-Hurling
Program Officer
LaBrisa Williams-Hurling, a Tulsa native, is a program officer who oversees GKFF’s domestic violence initiatives and the Accelerator Grant program. Before joining the foundation in 2022, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana, where she developed HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programs. Williams is also the founder and former Executive Director of the Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative and has completed community health-related fellowships with the Aspen Institute and the Ronnie K. Irani Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of South Florida and earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma. In her free time, LaBrisa enjoys playing recreational hockey.
Katelynn Sorenson
BioKatelynn Sorenson
Program Coordinator
Katelynn Sorenson joined GKFF in 2022 and is a program coordinator for the foundation's criminal justice and domestic violence programs. She brings a diverse background in operational roles across higher education, nonprofit and financial services sectors. A 2015 graduate of East Central University with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services Counseling, Katelynn’s commitment to social service is driven by her upbringing in rural Oklahoma. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their two rescue dogs.
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