The Oklahoma Media Center has announced the formation of its board of directors and election of officers as the statewide collaborative proceeds in its planned transition to nonprofit status.
OMC’s mission is to support and strengthen Oklahoma’s journalism ecosystem and spur innovation through statewide collaboration that benefits diverse audiences. It provides best-practices training to elevate journalism, grant funding for innovative revenue and audience engagement experiments, and spurs story-sharing collaboration.
OMC, managed by the Local Media Foundation, has applied to establish its own 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax status. Since launching in 2020, OMC has grown to more than 25 Oklahoma journalism collaborators, including newspapers, broadcasters and digital news outlets.
The OMC board is represented by a diverse range of Oklahoma news organizations, from broadcast to nonprofit and legacy media.
Meet the five OMC board members and officers:
Board President Tyler Tokarczyk is a senior program officer for Inasmuch Foundation. His work primarily focuses on journalism, criminal justice reform, and entrepreneurship and innovation. In addition to OMC, Tyler serves on the board of directors for Teach For America-Oklahoma City, ReMerge of Oklahoma County and The Kiln. Outside of the office, Tyler and his wife, Ariel, enjoy traveling and aspire to visit every Major League Baseball stadium and U.S. national park. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, he majored in journalism at Washington and Lee University and earned his MBA at the University of Oklahoma.
Board Treasurer Angel Ellis is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and has lived, worked and played within reservation boundaries most of her life. Ellis learned to read with a newspaper at the breakfast table with her grandfather, and the fascination never faded. Early in her career, she became the editor for a Kimberling City Publish Co. newspaper. By 2008, Ellis had performed every job, from throwing paper routes with her children in car seats to selling advertisements and covering local news. Ellis became director of Mvskoke Media in 2020. On Sept. 18, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation became the first tribe to usher in a citizen-ratified, constitutionally protected and fully funded press. Ellis advocates for ethical coverage of Indigenous topics and communities while working to uphold ethical reporting standards. She was recently elected to the Native American Journalist Association’s Board of Directors.
At-large member Bianca Gordon joined Bridges of Norman in September 2017. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of Tulsa in 2000, and a Master of Arts degree in mass communication management (strategic communication) from the University of Oklahoma in 2014. Gordon serves on the board of directors for the historic Norman Depot where she is chair of the marketing and development committee and is an appointed member of the Norman Public Library board. She is also an adjunct public relations research and writing professor at the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College of Journalism & Mass Communication. Gordon founded Spire Public Relations in 2016. Gordon has a daughter, Chesna, and is an insatiable learner who loves spending time with family, doing real estate on the side, and playing trivia. A sixth-generation Oklahoman, Gordon is a descendent of the Choctaw Freedmen.
OMC board member Cecilia Hernandez-Cromwell works as news director/anchor for Telemundo Oklahoma. Tyler Media, which Is an affiliate of Univision and Telemundo, has Oklahoma’s only statewide broadcast Spanish newscast. Hernandez-Cromwell graduated from Gonzaga University in 2014 with a double major in broadcast and electronic media as well as Spanish with a minor in advertising. She previously worked as a reporter intern at KION TV/ Telemundo 23 in Salinas, California.
OMC board member William W. (Tres) Savage III has served as NonDoc‘s editor-in-chief since the publication’s launch in September 2015. He holds a journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma and covered two sessions of the Oklahoma Legislature for eCapitol.net before working in health care for six years. He is a nationally certified Mental Health First Aid instructor.
OMC’s print, digital and broadcast media collaborators include: Big If True, The Black Wall Street Times, CNHI Oklahoma, Cherokee Phoenix, Curbside Chronicle, The Frontier, Gaylord News, Griffin Communications, KFOR, KGOU, KOSU, The Lawton Constitution, Moore Monthly, Mvskoke Media, NonDoc, The O’Colly, Oklahoma City Free Press, The Oklahoma Eagle, The Oklahoman, Oklahoma Watch, Osage News, StateImpact Oklahoma, Tulsa World, Telemundo Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Student Media and VNN.
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