Mayor Announces Establishment of Asian Affairs Commission in the City of Tulsa

9/12/2023

Today, Mayor G.T. Bynum and other City leaders announced the establishment of an Asian American Affairs Commission in the City of Tulsa.   

The Asian American Affairs Commission will join five other Title V Commissions, namely the Human Rights Commission; Tulsa Women’s Commission, Greater Tulsa Indian Affairs Commission; Greater Tulsa African-American Affairs Commission; and the Greater Tulsa Area Hispanic/Latinx Affairs Commission.  

Commissions are supported by the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity. 

“Tulsa’s Asian community has grown more than 50% in the last 10 years, with 26 Asian countries represented at our naturalization ceremonies since we started hosting them in 2019,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said. “We are extremely proud our immigrant community in Tulsa and are eager to have the Asian American Affairs Commission join our other Title V Commissions.”  

The intent to establish an Asian American Affairs Commission in the City of Tulsa started in the fall of 2022 when a working group was created to help plan and design what the commission would look like. Working group members, which consisted of 26 Tulsans with various sector/background experiences, worked over six months to make key recommendations on the structure, membership, and areas of focus for the commission. 

“We are very excited to add this commission as one of the city’s Authorities, Boards and Commissions or ABCs,” said Krystal Reyes, the City’s Chief Resilience Officer. “Thank you to all the working group members for helping the city develop this commission and its areas of focus.  We look forward to working with the future commission members to continue making Tulsa a welcoming, resilient, world class city.”   

Ultimately, the commission will focus on:

• Workforce/Economic Development
• Research/Data Collection 
• Community Development
• Education
• Civic Engagement 

The commission will be made up of 15 members appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Tulsa City Council.  

The commission will be made up of the following:

• 3 appointees from the 3 largest Asian populations in Tulsa 
• 1 member will have experience in education (K-12 or Higher Education)
• 1 member will be a community leader
• 1 member will be a business owner, leader, or entrepreneur 
• 1 member will have experience in the field of policy or immigration law
• 1 member will be a public health advocate
• 7 members will be at large 

“The creation of the Asian American Affairs Commission will strengthen representation of Asian immigrant and refugee communities in our city,” said Nem Lun, the City’s Immigrant and Refugee Affairs Manager. “Having community leaders on committees such as this creates opportunities and encourages participation and engagement in city government.” 

On Tuesday, Mayor Bynum signed a Request for Action (RFA) on the measure, which will go before the Tulsa City Council for consideration in the coming weeks.  

Upon approval, the Commission will start meeting in January of 2024.