Tessa Martin, director of conference services at Metro Technology Centers’ Springlake Campus, is the new board president for VillagesOKC, a membership organization offering services and connections to empower adults to age with vitality and purpose.
“Tessa brings exceptional leadership, energy, and vision to VillagesOKC,” said Danny Eischen, VillagesOKC executive director and Concordia Life Plan Community CEO. “Her passion for education, community engagement, and lifelong learning aligns perfectly with our mission to help older adults live with vitality, connection, and purpose. I’m excited about the direction she will help lead our organization.”
Martin’s career experience has been in education, marketing and training. After college, she worked as the market and training coordinator for Ford Audio-Video. She was a teacher for Mid-Del Public Schools and Metro Technology Center. She taught English at the Metro Career Academy and Law Prep I at the Public Safety Academy.
She received the MetroQuest Award at Metro Tech and was named the 2018 Metro Technology Centers Teacher of the Year by the South Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. She received the OkACTE Kaleidoscope Award which honors those who demonstrate a strong commitment to creating inclusive environments in career and technology education. She volunteers with MetroFit and Community Health Centers wellness programs.
Serving with Martin on the board are Melissa Holobach, board secretary, and directors Marilyn Olson, Chris Buckelew, Lauren Branch, Julie Davis, Ginny Curtis-Gillespie and Kathy Wilson-Gold.
Holobach has 40-plus years of experience in the corporate world. Currently, she works as an adjunct professor, leadership trainer, non-profit board member and business consultant and presenter. Olson is co-founder and past executive director of VillagesOKC. She now works with VillagesOKC as a community ambassador.
Outgoing board president, Buckelew is co-founder and chief operating officer of Seniors Real Estate Institute. He and his wife, Nikki, founded the Senior Living Truth Series which is now in its eleventh year of providing free monthly educational seminars for older adults.
Branch is President/CEO of NewView Oklahoma, which since 1949 has served as a life-changing source of hope and empowerment for those in Oklahoma living with blindness and low vision. Davis is marketing project manager at Concordia Life Plan Community, a faith based Continuum Care Retirement Community in Oklahoma City, and Executive Director for the Concordia Community Foundation. She has more than two decades of experience in the not-for-profit sector.
Curtis-Gillespie is owner/agent at Navigating Medicare, which has collaborated with VillagesOKC for several years to provide information about Medicare Supplements, Advantage plans, and the impact of financial, healthcare, and specific physician selections.
Wilson-Gold is a Senior Nutrition Consultant for the Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. She is also founder and owner of KWG & Associates, a consulting firm providing comprehensive nutrition and healthcare expertise.
Eischen said he is excited that the newly constituted board will guide the working relationship between Concordia and VillagesOKC, modeling the state’s developing Aging Our Way plan where individual agencies, organizations and businesses work together to make Oklahoma the best place in the nation to age successfully.
