Tulsa Press Club to Honor Headliners
BILL AND KATHY LAFORTUNE: Former Mayor Bill LaFortune and Kathy LaFortune will be honored on Dec. 5 as the Tulsa Press Club’s 2017 Headliners. The event will be held at the BOK Center, with a reception beginning at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m.
Courtesy photo
The Tulsa Press Club has announced its 2017 Headliners – Bill and Kathy LaFortune.
They will be recognized at the 2017 Headliners Dinner, to be held Tuesday, Dec. 5 at the Center. The reception begins at 6 p.m. with dinner following at 7 p.m.
This extraordinary couple embodies service to the community:
Bill LaFortune helped redefine Tulsa while serving as its 37th Mayor. He ushered in the redevelopment of Tulsa’s downtown and the great revival of Tulsa’s central business core.
During his tenure, he took on the role of consensus builder in working with elected officials, local governments, business leaders and neighborhood advocates to create a capital investment campaign known as Vision 2025, which was approved by voters in 2003. Those Vision 2025 projects, including the Center, were the beginning of a bold new future and served as a catalyst for Tulsa’s renaissance, spurring more than $1 billion in private investment in downtown Tulsa.
As a member of Tulsa’s legal community for more than 30 years, Bill has served as an Oklahoma Assistant Attorney General and Tulsa County District Attorney, in private practice and as a partner with the firm of Norman Wohlgemuth Chandler & Dowdell.
Entire generations of Tulsa families have been helped by the work of Kathy LaFortune. As a nationally-recognized forensic psychologist, she has given a voice to the Tulsa community’s most at-risk populations, serving to help juveniles and individuals with severe mental illness. She is currently the Forensic Psychological Services Coordinator of the Tulsa County Juvenile Bureau and has served as Chief of Forensic Psychological Services for the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System. She has published articles on the competency to stand trial and child custody evaluations and has taught and spoke on these issues across the country as a noted expert in her field.
“This is a first for the Tulsa Press Club – honoring a husband and wife as Headliners,” notes Melani Hamilton and Nicole Burgin, 2017 Headliners co-chairs. “Bill and Kathy LaFortune have worked to create a vibrant and healthier community for all Tulsans. Beginning with the vision of the redevelopment in downtown Tulsa and a sustained commitment to advocate for our troubled youth and mentally ill, these two individuals have shaped Tulsa for the better.”
Since 1956, the Tulsa Press Club has honored Headliners – a group of outstanding Tulsa area civic, business, professional and industrial leaders whose unselfish contributions to the growth, prosperity and culture of Tulsa have made headlines.
Previous Headliners include Alan Armstrong, Dr. Keith Ballard, Henry Bellmon, David Boren, Chet Cadieux , Sharon Daugherty, Sharon King Davis, Nancy Day, Becky J. Frank, Robert LaFortune, Wilma Mankiller, Elliot Nelson, Julius Pegues, Major Dan Rooney, former Mayor Kathy Taylor, Steve Turnbo, Steadman Upham and Michael Wallis.
The Tulsa Press Club will use a portion of event proceeds to fund scholarships for Oklahoma college journalism and communications students.
For more information about the 2017 Headliners event, sponsorships and tickets, email kelly@tulsapressclub.org, call 918-583-7737 or visit shop.tulsapressclub.org.
Updated 11-16-2017
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