About Mana (she/her)

🔈 Hear my name

For my resume, visit my LinkedIn profile.

Now

I’m a life-long advocate for justice and liberation, with nearly two decades of experience organizing for progressive social change in deep red states. As a consultant in inclusion, equity, and social justice, I help progressive social impact organizations and foundations advance their missions through strategy development, values alignment, executive coaching, equity training, facilitation, event planning, and other supports.

Then

In the past, I co-founded the global climate justice organization Taproot Earth, after serving as Deputy Director at its predecessor organization Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy, a Southern grassroots organization advancing structural shifts toward climate justice and ecological equity in communities of color on the frontline of climate change. From 2008 to 2017, I worked at YWCA Tulsa, whose mission is to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. I first joined YWCA as their inaugural Director of Racial Justice, growing the department to include anti-racism training and consulting, racial dialogue groups, community collaborations, and two annual signature events. Later, as the Director of Mission Impact and Co-Director of the Inclusion Institute, my role expanded to managing YWCA’s women’s empowerment, public policy, and evaluation work; plus providing local, regional and national partners with capacity building and technical assistance on issues of identity and inclusion. In my final year, I served as interim Director of Immigrant & Refugee Services, helping thousands of newcomers integrate into Tulsa’s fabric.

Before joining YWCA Tulsa, I was the first Deputy Director of Oklahomans for Equality, (which manages Tulsa’s 18,000 square foot LGBTQ community center and multiday Pride celebration), where I developed programming, managed volunteers, coordinated advocacy efforts, and raised funds to support OkEq’s work.

In my community work, I volunteered for the Terence Crutcher Foundation, co-founded the Demanding a JUSTulsa campaign for policing reform, wrote for the Tulsa Star, advised committees of Mental Health Association Oklahoma and Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits, and ran Tulsa’s fourth-largest election precinct. I also co-chaired a Tulsa Area United Way community investment panel, convened Changing the Status Quo and the Say No to Hate Coalition, and served on the boards of Center for New Community, Crossroads Antiracism Organizing & Training, ACLU Oklahoma, the United Campus Ministry at the University of Tulsa, and The University of Tulsa Women’s & Gender Studies Program.

Always

The first in my family to be born in the U.S., I’ve lived in Oklahoma most of my life (aside from a six-year stint in Southern California for elementary school), moving to Tulsa to earn my Bachelor’s in Political Science at The University of Tulsa. I specialize in analyzing power, community organizing, organizational and institutional development, and identity-based oppression.

The world I want to bring about is one without punishment, where bodily autonomy and community safety are human rights guaranteed to all. My love languages are home cooking, TikTok videos, and spreadsheets. I recently moved back to the U.S. after spending a year studying Spanish in Mexico with my husband Nick Doctor. We’re planning a permanent move to Chicago in the fall of 2024.