Kathryn Hinkle - Leadership Tulsa Paragon Award Winner - 2015

Kathryn Hinkle is nominated by The League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Tulsa Education Fund. Ms. Hinkle, a member of Leadership Tulsa Class 10, has been an engaged and consistent leader in the League of Women Voters since she began serving on League committees soon after moving to Tulsa in 1974. It was during her first term as president of the Tulsa League that Ms. Hinkle led the organization to study and formulate a position on storm water management in the City of Tulsa. After the devastating floods of 1986, Ms. Hinkle was one of Tulsa’s leaders who recognized the need for improved flood management. In 1987, Hinkle was appointed to serve on a citizens’ storm water management advisory board for the City of Tulsa, which she subsequently served as chair, and as a spokesperson visiting cities in other states that hoped to emulate Tulsa's success. Today, that visionary leadership is responsible for our nationally recognized storm water system that keeps our homes and businesses safe, even during record-breaking rainstorms. Ms. Hinkle’s leadership at both the local and state levels with respect to League positions on environmental issues resulted in her appointment by both Governor David Walters and Governor Frank Keating as the sole non-industry member of the Oklahoma Air Quality Advisory Council. Because she has been a dynamic leader in The Tulsa League and the Tulsa community for over 30 years, the League of Women Voters would like to see Ms. Hinkle publicly recognized for her outstanding service.