Former Congresswoman Kendra S. Horn was named the new president and CEO of Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation in October 2024. Horn succeeds Mary Mélon-Tully, who retired at the end of 2024 after serving the foundation for 10 years.
As President and CEO, Kendra Horn leads efforts to support and strengthen OKCPS by supporting innovative classroom initiatives, working to grow and retain teachers and building advocates for public education.
A fifth-generation Oklahoman and proud product of Oklahoma public schools, Kendra brings a deep understanding of the connection between education, building strong communities and workforce development. Horn served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021, where she earned recognition for her bipartisan approach, securing over $1.6 billion in relief for Oklahoma businesses, advocating for military families and strengthening federal oversight for space and aeronautics programs. Her experience spans nonprofit management, government relations and strategic advocacy.
Kendra Horn shared with MetroFamily the role of public school foundations in supporting public education, why investing in public education is critical to our community’s future as a whole and how community members can help share the good work happening in local public schools.
MetroFamily’s Community Leader series highlights prominent community leaders across various sectors in Oklahoma City. Focused on topics pertinent to parents and families, each installment provides insights and perspectives from those shaping our community.
What is a public school foundation, and why are they important?
Kendra Horn: Public school foundations, like the OKCPS Foundation, are nonprofit organizations dedicated to supporting public schools and advocating for public education. We work alongside OKCPS to identify opportunities, bridge gaps and engage the community.
We rely on businesses, foundations and individuals that support our mission. We don’t receive any state funding, and the reality is, state and federal funding alone can’t support everything our schools need. That’s why partnerships between the public, private and nonprofit sectors are essential.
We also connect people with opportunities that make a real impact. Public schools can’t do it alone, and our foundation serves as a bridge–making it easier for the community to get involved and ensure every child has what they need to thrive.
What are some of the ways the OKCPS Foundation helps bridge gaps for schools, teachers and students?
Kendra Horn: Public schools and teachers carry the immense responsibilities of educating children across all ages, backgrounds and abilities. Additionally, they’re working to address other factors that impact learning, and the needs are significant. By identifying where schools and teachers need extra support, we can help fill the gaps by meeting the basic needs of OKCPS students.
If students feel unsafe, hungry, or cold, it’s harder for them to focus on learning. That’s why we raise money each year to provide essentials like coats — because warmth is a basic human need.
We also support workforce development by growing and retaining teachers within OKCPS through the Teacher Pipeline Program. The foundation pays for each participant’s college tuition, fees and books so they can focus on working towards their degree while continuing to work as full-time OKCPS paraprofessionals.
No single organization can solve all these challenges alone. It takes all of us, working together.
Why are public schools essential to the entire community, even for those without school-age children?
Kendra Horn: Strong public schools build strong communities. They provide the foundation for a skilled workforce and a healthy economy. The kids in our classrooms today will be the adults we interact with in the future as leaders, scientists, teachers, and more.
If we don’t invest in our public schools now, we’ll face greater societal challenges later. Investing in public schools benefits everyone. Improving student outcomes provides more economic opportunity and stability, keeps families together, reduces incarceration rate and more.
Public schools serve everyone. Most kids in Oklahoma attend public schools, so the question we have to ask ourselves is simple: What kind of future do we want to have?
How do we combat the negative misperceptions of public schools?
Kendra Horn: Negative stories often spread faster because they’re emotionally charged. When someone has a bad experience, they tell 10 people, but if they have a good experience, they might tell one person. It’s how we’re hard-wired as people.
But the truth about public schools is far more positive and inspiring than the headlines suggest. Combatting misconceptions requires consistent effort — sharing success stories, building one-on-one connections and creating opportunities for the public to witness the great work happening in schools firsthand.
People make assumptions about OKCPS — who the kids are, the quality of education, the educators and the environment — that don’t reflect reality. When they step inside a classroom to volunteer, their entire perspective shifts. That’s how we change minds–through real connections.
What are your priorities for the upcoming Oklahoma legislative session, and what do you hope lawmakers will focus on to support public education?
Kendra Horn: Education should never be a partisan issue. We have education advocates on both sides of the aisle who want to do the right thing for kids. Our focus needs to be on securing strong, stable funding for our public schools, both urban and rural, and ensuring real accountability. We need to protect our education budget, our teachers’ ability to teach and administrators’ ability to run schools in a child-centered and outcome-centered way. We have increased teacher pay, but we also need to focus on support staff and paraprofessionals, who are critical to student success. They’re in our classrooms every day, making a difference, but they’re making very little money.
We can’t allow ourselves to be distracted by things that aren’t furthering education or addressing OKCPS needs, and we can’t be driven by political distractions born of misinformation and false perceptions. We have to interrupt that by serving as a trustworthy source of information.
What are you most looking forward to in the year ahead?
Kendra Horn: I’m honored to be a part of public education and excited for the opportunity to make a real impact. Every investment we make in our schools directly shapes the future of our community, and that’s what drives me. I’ve directly experienced the difference it makes, and I want to help others see its importance, too. Mary’s leadership made a lasting impact, and our team is doing incredible work. I’m carrying that work forward in new and impactful ways.
How can community members get involved with public schools?
Kendra Horn: There are so many ways to help. Our ReadOKC Book Bus helps kids build home libraries, which is great for literacy and developing a love for reading. Beyond promoting reading and literacy, volunteers are also showing our kids that adults and community leaders care about them.
We need volunteers for our Read Across OKCPS Day March 7 between 9am and 11am. Volunteers will spend 30 minutes reading to an elementary school class. Our new volunteer portal makes it easy to see all the upcoming volunteer opportunities. As a reminder, every volunteer needs a background check every year.
Financial support also makes a big difference. Our Coat-a-Kid program has received many more calls for coats this school year. This program helps us provide a coat to every child in the district in need. Every $25 donation buys one coat. Because we work with major vendors, we’re able to secure high quality coats in a variety of attractive colors for this great price.
For more information or to get involved with the OKCPS Foundation, visit okckids.com.
