Public Education

Annie Koppel Van Hanken is a chief program officer who oversees GKFF’s early childhood education, common education and arts initiatives. Before joining the Foundation in 2002, Van Hanken worked in inner-city Los Angeles at a community-based youth development center. She serves as board president for Tulsa Educare and is a member of the national Educare Network board of directors. Van Hanken also serves on the board of Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, The Opportunity Project and is a gubernatorial appointee on Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness Board of Directors. She has a master’s degree in education, with an emphasis on learning disabilities, from the University of Texas at Austin and a dual bachelor’s degree in English and history, with a minor in classics, from Tulane University. Annie adores little children and prefers their company to adults any day of the week.

Sophia Pappas is the managing director for the Birth through Eight Strategy for Tulsa (BEST). She leads a team responsible for the ongoing implementation and sustainability of an initiative to tackle poverty by improving outcomes in the earliest years of a child’s development. Pappas builds on expertise from managing large programs and creating policies within New York City’s Department of Education along with knowledge about health, financial and social programs within non-profits and public agencies gained in her time in Tulsa. Starting off as a pre-K teacher at a public school in Newark, New Jersey, Pappas moved on to author "Good Morning, Children" (Gryphon House, '09) and train early childhood teachers. She served across mayoral administrations at the New York City Department of Education from 2011-2017, where she oversaw teams ensuring pre-K programs offered high-quality classroom instruction and family engagement. Pappas attended Georgetown University and Harvard Kennedy School earning a Master of Public Policy. Her time as a pre-K teacher grounds her in the importance of high quality early education. What she learned from children, families, fellow teachers and school administration shapes how she leads and what gets her up in the morning.