| Staff | |
 Tracey Strader Executive Director |
Tracey Strader became the first Executive Director for the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust in August 2002. She holds a master's degree in social work, and is licensed by the State of Oklahoma. Strader has broad experience in providing direct services, management and administrative oversight for community-based and statewide programs. For nearly 30 years, she has been extensively involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs related to public health, tobacco control, maternal and child health, services for senior adults, and mental health and substance abuse services. Contact Tracey Strader at: e-mail or (405) 521-3888. |
 Jonás Mata Director of Grants and Programs |
Jonás Osio Mata has served as the TSET's first Director of Grants and Programs since 2004. Previous to coming to TSET, Mata was the Director of Operations for the Latino Community Development Agency in Oklahoma City and previous to that, he served as a top-level manager for the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs. Mata has extensive management, consultation, and grant-making experience in tobacco control, social services, juvenile justice and child welfare. For more than 25 years he has designed, implemented, and evaluated policy efforts dealing with children and youth, as well as programs related to delinquency prevention and justice system reform. Matas received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Social Work from the Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois. His Master's degree is in Social Work Administration and Planning. Contact Jonás Mata at: e-mail or (405) 521-3878. |
 Sjonna Paulson Director of Health Communication |
Sjonna Paulson, APR, became the first Director of Communications for the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust in November 2007. She is an accredited public relations counselor and holds a bachelor's degree in journalism/public relations with an emphasis in accounting. For more than 20 years, Paulson has had an active career in public relations and marketing with a diverse array of for-profits and non-profits organizations receiving both local and national professional awards. Contact Sjonna Paulson at: e-mail or (405) 521-3885. |
Julie Bisbee Public Information and Outreach Office |
Julie Bisbee became the Public Information and Outreach Officers for the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust in January. Bisbee, a former newspaper reporter, has experience working on policy efforts, advocacy, publications and grassroots communication as the policy director for the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. As a reporter, Bisbee was a member of The Oklahoman’s Capitol Bureau and covered a variety of beats including aerospace, transportation, courts, corrections, southern Oklahoma and state agencies. She has also worked for The Associated Press in Oklahoma City. Bisbee has a degree in journalism from Ball State University. Contact Julie Bisbee at: e-mail or (405) 521-4992. |
| Dorothy Antwine Office Manager |
Contact Dorothy Antwine at: e-mail or (405) 521-3888. |
|
|
Connie Befort serves as the Program Manager for Certified Healthy Communities for the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust. She has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing from the University of Central Oklahoma. For the past 35 years, Befort has held leadership positions in both profit and non-profit organizations. At the American Lung Association, she served as the Director of Advocacy for Oklahoma and as Chairman of the Oklahoma Alliance on Health or Tobacco and Smoke Free Oklahoma. Contact Connie Befort at: e-mail or (405) 521-4985. |
Dianne McGarry Administrative Assistant |
Contact Dianne McGarry at: e-mail or (405) 521-3888. |
 Sharon Neal Program Officer |
Sharon Neal has worked as a Program Officer for the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust since 2006. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Administration - Information Processing from Oklahoma State University. She is a Certified Procurement Officer (CPO) for the State of Oklahoma. Neal also completed a Training and Development Certificate program from the University of Oklahoma College of Continuing Education. Prior to joining the TSET, she worked in both the private and public sector in various IT-related positions. Contact Sharon Neal at: e-mail or (405) 521-3884. |
 J. Lance Thomas Health Communication Consultant |
J. Lance Thomas serves as the health communications coordinator for the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust. He has previously served in state government for the Department of Rehabilitation Services, Oklahoma Insurance Department and at the University of Oklahoma's Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Thomas has worked in public relations for the past 17 years, serving clients and organizations in health care, consumer products, financial services, insurance and education. He has been responsible for writing/editing, media relations, events, strategic planning, plan implementation and evaluation. Thomas has a bachelor's degree in journalism with an emphasis in public relations from the University of Oklahoma. Contact Lance Thomas at: e-mail or (405) 521-3875. |
|
|
James S. Tyree joined TSET as a health communications coordinator in November 2011 after working as a newspaper reporter for more than 19 years. He covered a variety of beats that ranged from politics, education and police and courts to the fine and performing arts, religion and sports. Tyree reported for newspapers in Oregon, Illinois, Kansas City and his native Janesville, Wis., and locally at The Oklahoman, Norman Transcript and Edmond Sun. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor's degree in Journalism and currently is president of JayMac, the alumni association of OU’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. He also has spent the past five years teaching part-time at the Gaylord College as an adjunct instructor. Contact James Tyree at: e-mail or (405) 521-3879. |
|
Jennifer Wilson |
Jennifer Wilson is known nationally for her work as a consultant and trainer with over 18 years of community mobilization and grant writing experience. Over the past nine years, she worked at the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) as the coordinator for the Tobacco Use Prevention Service’s Students Working Against Tobacco program and was a program consultant for the Communities of Excellence tobacco control grantees. Wilson also served as the Training and Evaluation Coordinator within OSDH’s Office of Performance Management. Additionally, she has been a consultant and trainer with the Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, a Program Grants Coordinator for Red Salmon Arts in Texas, and served in a similar position for the Tulsa Creek Indian Community. Wilson’s skills include youth empowerment and community mobilization strategies, grant writing and administration, consulting and training, strategic planning, and performance management through quality improvement. She earned her Master of Arts degree in Administrative Leadership from the University of Oklahoma and her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History from the University of Central Oklahoma. Contact Jennifer Wilson at: e-mail or (405) 521-4959. |
Denice Yardley Administrative Assistant |
Contact Denice Yardley at: e-mail or (405) 521-3888. |
| Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust 3800 N. Classen Blvd, Suite 200, Oklahoma City, OK 73118 (405) 521-3888, Fax (405) 525-6104 or by e-mail Dorothy Antwine, Office Manager |
|
 |
