91����

91���� 50 Notable Alumni

Debbi’s top priority was, and still is, her family. But that didn’t stop her from completing her undergraduate and graduate degrees. Although she started taking classes at Tulsa Junior College, now 91����, in 1970, she would step out and return as needed throughout the years.

While at 91����, Debbi earned credit hours that allowed her to enroll in state universities and earn her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. “Tulsa Junior College, now 91����, afforded me a strong foundation to go ahead and complete my degree, along with the responsibilities of working and caring for my husband and three children,” she said. “TJC allowed me to come and go, depending on what responsibilities I had at home.”

For the past 18 years, Debbi has served as the Executive Director of Crosstown Learning Center, caring for children ages six weeks through pre-K in the first nationally accredited center by the National Association for the Education of Young Children in north Tulsa. Starting with a budget of $450,000 in 2002, Debbi now oversees the Center’s budget set at $1.9 million.

A Best of 91���� Distinguished Alumni in 2003, Debbi is a board facilitator, trained through the Sarkeys Foundation, which provides grants to nonprofit organizations in Oklahoma, and has served as a presenter at the Foundation’s Southwest Regional Forum. She also works with the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits and serves as a Commissioner for the Oklahoma Standards Commission.