The Oklahoma Community Institute was recommended in Oklahoma's 5-year Economic Development Plan of 1995 and created to serve as a resource to communities who want to help themselves. The Articles of Incorporation were signed on August 24, 1995, by the original Board of Directors: Ann Bandy, Bill Crawford, Nance Diamond, Karen Hill, LaVern Phillips, Paul Wm. Thomas, Roger Webb, Bill Moyer, ex officio, and Leo Presley, ex officio.
As a result of input from citizen groups all over the state, OCI has focused on the areas of community-wide visioning and planning, providing opportunities for networking and information sharing and gathering, asset mapping of community resources, leadership development, and sharing research from across the United States on community success stories.
The first phase in the life of the Oklahoma Community Institute was devoted to research, building awareness, developing a planning process that offered the greatest opportunity to create results, developing materials to benefit the planning community, developing a process to incorporate local resource mapping in the implementation of a community plan, and building partnerships with other groups and organizations that share the commitment to building stronger communities, and thus, a healthier Oklahoma.
Since OCI's creation, community wide visioning and planning has been facilitated in 47 communities and 6 regional coalitions*. Over the life of OCI and our planning process we have continued to revise and update the planning process to be more effective in helping communities identify their most significant priorities and putting in place the plans to address these priorities.
In January 2000 OCI hosted their first conference titled Conversations on Community Renewal. This conference is one of the most successful events sponsored each year by OCI. Participants receive timely information and make valuable contacts. It also has brought a heightened awareness of our organization in communities across the state.
Based on OCI's commitment to continuous organizational improvement and to being able to provide the most current and effective assistance to communities, we are constantly updating, revising, and adding to our products and services. The Oklahoma Citizens Academy, was created in 2003 and graduated its first class in 2004. The Oklahoma Citizens Academy was formed to prepare local citizens to have a positive impact on the future development of their communities.
OCI has developed a community indicators program which provides communities a clear picture of where they stand on a core of indicators for a variety of 10 community measurements: economy, education, culture and recreation, infrastructure, health and safety, environment, etc. OCI, also, sponsors a statewide coalition of state agencies and non-profits that work with communities in capacity building.
Phone: 405/208-8882
Fax: 405/208-8885
E-mail: okcom@ocionline.org