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OKLAHOMA CITY – Kent Meyers and Don Nicholson were no strangers to trying big cases. But 13 years ago, the attorneys felt a tug to do something more.

The result is an effort that’s still going strong – Oklahoma Lawyers for Children. Since the organization began, hundreds of Oklahoma lawyers have provided pro bono legal assistance to some 21,000 abused and neglected children in Oklahoma County.

Nicholson said the children needed a voice, and the organization’s volunteers have been there to help them speak.

“A lot of times you try a big case between corporation A and corporation B, and all they’re fighting about is money,” said Meyers, a director at Crowe & Dunlevy. “They both care, but it’s not the end of the world. But it can be the end of the world in children’s cases. If you take a wrong turn and put the child in a bad situation, it can be the end of that child’s world. So many of these children have been horribly scarred emotionally by what has happened, and we have a chance to make life a little better for a child. That’s very comforting.”

Meyers and Nicholson started Oklahoma Lawyers for Children after touring several facilities for abused and neglected youths. At the last stop on the tour, they simply sat down and hashed out a plan for the organization before they left.

Today, Oklahoma Lawyers for Children has 489 volunteer lawyers in Oklahoma County representing 500 children at any given time. The lawyers assist the public defender’s office with cases, or take the cases on themselves, Meyers said. Because the law related to abused and neglected children is unique, the organization holds two free daylong continuing legal education programs annually.

The organization also offers plenty of work for nonlawyers – volunteers visit shelters every day of the year to talk to the children and get information on those who arrived the previous day.

Meyers said the lawyers can’t help but get attached to the children as they help them navigate the legal system. Sometimes, if the circumstances are right, the children are reunited with their parents. Other times, parental rights are terminated and the child may eventually be adopted. Sometimes the children can’t be adopted and age out of the foster care system.

“Not every case has a happy ending,” Meyers said.

Nicholson said Oklahoma Lawyers for Children is the best pro bono work he could imagine doing.

“No lawyer ever had a totally innocent client, but these kids are,” Nicholson said. “I can’t imagine anything a lawyer could do by way of pro bono work where his time would be so meaningful and could affect such an important change.”

Nicholson, Meyers and the late Buddy Faye Foster were recently honored for their work with Oklahoma Lawyers for Children. The newly constructed court waiting area at the Oklahoma County Juvenile Justice Center has been named the “Meyers, Nicholson and Foster Lobby.” It was funded by the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.

Entrepreneur working to open health food market in Tulsa

By D. Ray Tuttle, The Journal Record

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories on creativity in business, education and the arts in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City will host the World Creativity Forum in November.

TULSA – Deborah Perry believes that many people don’t realize how tasty and diverse healthy food options can be. She’s out to prove it, and she’s putting her kale where her mouth is.

Perry is working on a startup health food market, to be named Perry & Son Grocery, and is discussing potential locations with three downtown property owners.

Perry, a vegetarian for 23 years, has been involved with health foods and healthy lifestyles for years. She enjoys sharing that with other people.

Recently, she became involved with the Healthy Corner Store Initiative, and learned about the lack of healthy foods in comparison to the demand and need in downtown Tulsa. The initiative, which is working to bring corner stores into the north Tulsa area, has provided guidance for her.

“I really wanted to bring together the healthy alternatives that I have found for myself and to be able to educate people about ways to eat healthy and still be delicious,” Perry said.

Perry has aspired to open a restaurant or store and even entered the SpiritBank/Tulsa Community College Entrepreneurial Spirit Award competition for a restaurant project in 2006.

“This project has incorporated many of the concepts of the previous restaurant into the Perry & Son Grocery,” Perry said. “When I started hearing the statistics for Oklahoma and Tulsa and the huge need for healthier eating habits, as well as access to these options, I was immediately excited about bringing all of this together.

“There is also a really amazing group of people in the HCSI group who are working together to support new healthy corner stores. It is great to have that kind of support network behind you when you start something like this,” she said.

Since there currently isn’t a grocery store in the area, the store will be unique to downtown Tulsa. It will offer that sidewalk deli market feel that people are familiar with if they have visited other major urban cities. The products and prepared foods will include healthy options like fresh-squeezed juices, Perry said.

“We will also offer many unique ethnic, specialty and international foods. There will also be grab-and-go prepared foods for those on the go at lunch or those who want the convenience of a ready-made meal to pick up on their way home from work,” Perry said.

The growing number of downtown residents will finally be able to shop within walking distance, Perry said. She plans to offer not only healthy foods, but also basic grocery staples. She also plans a downtown delivery service.

Perry has entered the Spirit Award competition again, submitting her executive summaries for the market online during the spring.

After executive summaries were submitted, the top 25 businesses were notified to submit their full plans and make their pitch to a panel of judges. Perry was named one of the 12 semifinalists this summer. Next was coaching in support of the next round of competition. The number will be pared to seven finalists.

Winners will be announced on Nov. 16. The first-place winner will receive $30,000, second place $5,000 and third place, $2,500 – all provided by SpiritBank.

“I am very excited, especially after the (Spirit Award) coaching sessions that were provided as part of the process,” Perry said. “I had really great coaches who gave me so much valuable input and suggestions.”

Through the coaching, Perry took her project in a new direction.

“The project has improved since I have incorporated their advice,” Perry said.

Perry is gaining valuable exposure and benefiting from the coaching and support.

“The whole process really pushes you to keep moving your project forward and developing it,” Perry said. “The combination of all of these benefits certainly is worth it, regardless of the outcome.”

Interactive exhibit teaches children about nutrition

By April Wilkerson, The Journal Record

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories on creativity in business, education and the arts in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City will host the World Creativity Forum in November.

OKLAHOMA CITY – With today’s youths facing medical issues once found only in adults, the need to teach them about healthy lifestyles is greater than ever.

One approach comes with a little fun: guiding students through an exhibit that features everything from a “cool cafe” with healthy foods and portions, to a maze through the digestive system.

“Farm to You,” a walk-through display, spent the day Friday at Stanley Hupfeld Academy at Western Village. The 40-foot-by-40-foot enclosed exhibit was created by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service along with the Oklahoma State University Department of Nutritional Sciences, Oklahoma State Department of Health and Southwest Dairy Farmers.

“The exhibit has a message that we can’t repeat enough,” said Susan Ward, a nurse practitioner at Stanley Hupfeld Academy. “Our school also has a focus on healthy lifestyles, so we repeat the message several ways. With childhood obesity and younger kids getting diabetes, it’s very important.”

“Farm to You” takes children to places like Cheeseburger Farm and the Healthy Cool Café to learn about good nutrition and proper portions. Then they walk through an opening in the maze – “the mouth” – and meander through the intestines, making stops to learn about the skin, bones and muscles. They end the trek by learning about hand-washing and looking for germs on their hands under a black light.

“It’s hands-on and visual, and that’s good for kids. They’re hearing, but also seeing, the message,” Ward said.

Ward runs the academy’s clinic, along with two other free clinics in Oklahoma City. She said she enjoys the school setting because she also interacts with the students’ parents and counsels them about healthy lifestyles. Many of the families are single parents with stressful lives, she said, and 90 percent of the children receive free or reduced lunches.

Because the clinic is at the school, parents can bring their children before school if there’s a problem, and if the child really isn’t sick, then his classroom is just down the hall, she said.

Some of the volunteers at “Farm to You” were employees of Integris Health. The namesake of the school, Stanley Hupfeld, is the former CEO of Integris. He took an interest in the school and helped turn it around when it was floundering. The school was recently renamed for Hupfeld, and his picture with dozens of smiling children features prominently in the office.

“Mr. Hupfeld had the idea that every child can learn if they’re given the proper tools,” Ward said. “The school has really turned around.”

“Farm to You” is off to its next elementary school. Dietitian Diana Romano, the state coordinator for “Farm to You,” said she travels to all corners of the state with the exhibit. In two years, she’s been to 46 counties and helped 30,500 students go through the exhibit.

The “Farm to You” project cost about $500,000 to create, which includes a van for its transport and Romano’s salary. That funding covered three years of travel for the exhibit, and the final year is under way.

“We’re looking for more funding so we can keep the program going,” Romano said.

Hair salon product protects clients, cuts drying time

By D. Ray Tuttle, The Journal Record

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories on creativity in business, education and the arts in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City will host the World Creativity Forum in November.

TULSA – Rose Hardwick knew she had nailed it when people lined up to buy her new product at an Atlanta hair show.Hardwick invented a foam shield that protects the face, ears and neck from the 150-degree temperatures and the noise of the hair dryer at hair salons.

At the same time, Hardwick’s product, called Urulax, cuts drying time by 45 percent.

Hardwick said she’s spent hundreds of hours under the hair dryer, thinking that something had to be done for the women at salons who endured the hot and noisy machines for hours at a time. Hardwick also learned the product needed to be flexible and reusable.

She came up with the name because when she uses the product she feels “relaxed.”

“You relax when you use this,” Hardwick said. “I wanted to create a play on words.”

While hair dryers have been used for decades, Hardwick could not find a product that cut drying time while reducing the noise.

“I know there had to be a solution,” Hardwick said. “To get a curly hairstyle takes hours under the dryer. So, I kept asking myself, ‘What would make me comfortable?’”

As Hardwick did her homework, she learned the market was huge. According to industry sources, 65,000 beauty salons and another 5,000 barbershops generate combined annual sales of $19 billion. But the industry is fragmented as the 50 largest companies control just 15 percent of the market, according to Hoovers Inc., the business information website. And, by far, the majority of salons are small independently owned.

In addition to combating heat and noise issues, Hardwick realized there was little protection from the chemicals applied to the hair.

“When you get your hair done, the hairdresser wears gloves, and they cover your clothes,” Hardwick said. “But they do not cover your face and neck.”

Nearly five years went by from the time Hardwick first started thinking about a product.

Once she designed it, it took her another two years to come up with a product that people said, ‘Yeah. This is good,’” Hardwick said.

Hardwick assembled a chemist, an engineer, a patent attorney and paid lots of cash.

She estimates she’s invested $59,000 to date on product development.

“I let them do what they know to do,” Hardwick said.

Once she had a product, Hardwick took it to hair shows in places like Atlanta and in Winston-Salem, N.C. She then quizzed hairstylists about the foam product and asked them to critique it.

“People told us what they liked and we’d come home and tweak it,” Hardwick said. It was at one of these hair shows in 2007 that Hardwick knew she’d found the right combination.

“A light bulb went off,” Hardwick said. “They were lined up for the product. I thought to myself, ‘We made it.’”

Salon operators would describe how their customers complained about the heat and the time it takes to dry their hair, Hardwick said.

“Once they saw the product, they told me, ‘We need something to get our clients to quit complaining. This will stop all that,” Hardwick said.

Since that Atlanta hair show, Hardwick has sold about 700 items.

Hardwick has worked at American Airlines in Tulsa as a maintenance scheduler 28 years. She continued working at AA while developing the Urulax. She entered the SpiritBank/Tulsa Community College Entrepreneurial Spirit Award competition earlier this year and was recently named a semifinalist. Entrepreneurs entered the competition by submitting their executive summaries online in April and May.  After executive summaries were submitted, the Top 25 businesses were notified and went through judging and coaching rounds where entrepreneurs “pitched” their idea to a panel of judges.

Winners will be announced on Nov. 16. The first-place winner will receive $30,000, second place $5,000 and third place, $2,500 – all provided by SpiritBank.

“We want to expand our market,” Hardwick said. “That is one of our problems now is that we are not big enough. We need to get the product out there.”

Hardwick praised the coaching she’s received. If creating an idea and getting it to the market was easy, everyone would be doing it, she said.

“The experts at the Spirit Awards know how to get it there,” Hardwick said. “I’ve learned a lot of business. I know how to invest but not how to get it from concept to market.”

Her husband, Stacy, has been surprised how his wife has been persistent and worked to not just come up with the concept, but also stick with it and bring it to market.

Rose Hardwick cautions anyone wanting to start a business.

“Don’t try it unless you have deep pockets and broad shoulders,” she said.

OU program pairs students with technologies, mentors

By April Wilkerson, The Journal Record

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories on creativity in business, education and the arts in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City will host the World Creativity Forum in November.

NORMAN – After four years of pairing students with mentors and new technologies, the leaders of the Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth took a step back to analyze the program.

They were happy with what they saw.

CCEW is a University of Oklahoma program that pairs students with technologies or business ideas and the serial entrepreneurs or business people to mentor them, with the goal of commercialization.

Since the program started, 122 students have gone through, and they’ve looked at 18 technologies, said Jeff Moore, executive director. Those technologies resulted in three spin-out companies, four licensing agreements and $4 million raised through grants, licensing and other means.

The program is achieving its intent of providing students the network and knowledge from mentors who want to nurture the talents of the next generation of leaders.

“From a student perspective, one of the goals of this program is to create opportunities that keep our best and brightest students in Oklahoma,” Moore said. “Sixty percent of our students did stay and took jobs in the state. That’s a lot, given that these are the best of the best who could go anywhere and do anything.”

The analysis showed a surprising fact as well: About a quarter of those students who stayed ended up starting their own entrepreneurial venture.

“A lot of students have the traditional view of, ‘Go to college, get a degree, get a job and work my way up,’” Moore said. “But their worldview changes after going through the program. It inspires them to think like owners and to consider startups and new businesses as a path to success as well.”

CCEW is greeting the new school year with a couple of pilot projects. One is a Software Business Accelerator, following the same pattern of matching students with mentors and inventors. A software development business can be launched fairly quickly, Moore said, and with low capital. The goal of the program is for the students to launch a new software business by semester’s end. The interdisciplinary team will include students with skills in graphic design, computer science, visual communications and more.

The other pilot project focuses on social entrepreneurship – using the power of commerce and capitalism to address social issues. The goal is to address a particular social issue, such as blindness because of a lack surgery access or improving water quality.

“The first project is working with Dr. Lloyd Hildebrand of the McGee Eye Institute to develop a business around low-cost cataract surgeries,” Moore said. “The focus initially will be in western China with a goal of doing 1 million cataract surgeries by 2015. The team’s goal is to figure out how to make that happen operationally, financially and organizationally.”

Mariana Barrientos, director of programs for CCEW, said working with the students and mentors is gratifying. She went through the program herself, then returned to be on staff after spending time out of state.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind experience,” she said. “The atmosphere of collaboration and fellowship that CCEW fosters is very unique. At the end of the day, it’s a mutual exercise of continued learning while still having a lot of fun.”

Chemist creates product to neutralize dangerous gas

By D. Ray Tuttle
The Journal Record

City Rescue Mission card program helps the homeless

By April Wilkerson, The Journal Record
April is a reporter in Oklahoma City. Contact her at 278-2849.

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories on
creativity in business, education and the arts in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City will host the World Creativity Forum in November.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Among the credit cards, debit cards, business cards or discount cards people carry in their wallets, Tom Jones hopes there’s room for a Compassion Card as well.

Jones, president and CEO of City Rescue Mission, said the organization has dispersed thousands of Compassion Cards since the program began in March. The concept is simple: The card contains information and a toll-free phone number about City Rescue Mission. When people encounter someone who is homeless, hungry or otherwise in need of help, they can pass along the card. The card offers people a way to help others without giving cash and worrying that it will be used for drugs or alcohol. And if the recipient is genuinely in need, he or she will be glad to receive the information, Jones said.

“You don’t always know if people are legitimate, that if you give them money they won’t just go use it for drugs,” Jones said. “They can play on the compassionate heart of our citizens. We do want to give them what they need, but we don’t want to enable them to remain in an addictive state or use homelessness as a way to manipulate you to fund their life. Our citizens just don’t need to have to make that judgment call when they pull up to that street corner and someone is holding a sign. This way, if they truly are homeless and hungry, when you hand them that card, they will be thankful because we are a resource center that provides everything they are asking for.”

So far, seven people have found their way to City Rescue Mission because of the Compassion Cards, Jones said. When someone calls the 800 number, a City Rescue Mission staff member will come pick him or her up. People can print out the Compassion Cards online, and Jones said he’s sent them to hundreds of churches.

City Rescue Mission is observing its 50th anniversary this year. For the first 40 to 45 years, the organization’s focus was caring for people while they are homeless. But that focus is changing, Jones said.

“We have radically shifted to increase our perspective to include case management of what it will take for any one individual to end their homelessness – lack of education, lack of medical care, lack of job training, addictions,” he said. “We still provide care for everyone, but when they walk through the door, we partner with them immediately to talk about what it will take to bring an end to their homelessness.”

That help includes Bridge to Life, a three-year-old program that has helped hundreds of people break free from their addictions, Jones said. The 10-month service is free and available to anyone who says, “I need help.”

“It’s exciting to see people who have been caught up in addiction for decades find their way out of it and resume as functioning citizens,” he said.

Oklahoma City, OK – Creative Oklahoma is pleased to announce tickets for the 2010 Creativity World Forum are now available. Visit www.stateofcreativity.com to register now to attend this once in a lifetime event.

The 7^th Annual Creativity World Forum is being held November 15-17, 2010 at the Cox Convention Center.  The forum brings together entrepreneurs, knowledge workers, and policy makers from around the world.  The group will share ideas and learn about proven programs that successfully encourage, promote, and enhance creativity in commerce, culture, and education.

Presenters such as Dan Pink, Blake Mycoskie, and Sir Ken Robinson will be speaking at the forum. In attendance will be more than 80 exhibitors, 300 international delegates, and 1,000 entrepreneurs, business leaders, technology experts, educators, scientists, artists, students, and policy makers.

Attendees of the forum will learn about new ways of doing things, new technology, and new ideas to solve everyday problems at work, school, or home.  Be inspired to come up with new ideas of your own after listening to the speakers who are leaders in their field. Become equipped with tools and knowledge about creating something of your own… whether it is art, business, or making your own dreams come true.

The Creativity Forum has previously been hosted in China, Belgium and Germany. This year, this meeting of the minds will converge in Oklahoma City November 15-17 at the Cox Convention Center, spotlighting the city and state as the creativity center of North America.

To learn more about the Creativity World Forum and to purchase tickets, visit Creative Oklahoma’s website at www.stateofcreativity.com.