On April 9, 2022, the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits (OKCNP) hosted its 15th annual Oklahoma Nonprofit Excellence (ONE) Awards. This year the OKCNP announced Discovery Lab had won the 2022 Education category, sponsored by Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies and Glenna and Richard Tanenbaum. Additionally, Discovery Lab was awarded the top award of the evening, the 2022 J. Jerry Dickman Award for Excellence, and received a $10,000 grant sponsored by The Tulsa Community Foundation.
The ONE Awards honors a total of 21 organizations in seven categories: Arts and Humanities, Community, Education, General Impact, Health Services, Self-Sufficiency and Youth Development. Additionally, the OKCNP names an overall winner of the event sponsored by the Tulsa Community Foundation. All 21 nonprofits receive at least a $5,000 prize and category winners receive $7,500. The overall winner receives a grand prize of $10,000.
Discovery Lab from OKCNP on Vimeo.
Discovery Lab has been igniting the curiosity of children since 2007, initially as a museum without walls. In May 2013, Discovery Lab opened their first walls in the Owen Park Recreation Center--seeing over 130,000 children and families each year including nearly 30,000 through outreach. In early 2022, the museum opened a 57,000-square-foot world-class facility in Gathering Place park that will be transformative for Tulsa’s children and families, and will respond to a compelling educational need in the community. The museum projects to impact over 300,000 children and families each year at the new site.
Out of almost 19,000 nonprofits statewide, only 21 were named finalists. For a complete list of finalists and category winners, or to watch a recording of the 2022 ONE Awards, visit www.okcnp.org/one-awards.
This year’s grants bring the total awards for Oklahoma Nonprofit Excellence to more than $2 million to nonprofit organizations in our state. Nonprofits may use the prize money as they see fit to aid current programs or make transformational changes for their organizations.
The ONE Awards is dedicated to honoring the outstanding work of Oklahoma nonprofits statewide. The ONE Awards were established in 2008 by the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits with guidance from late Chapman Foundation trustee J. Jerry Dickman and Tulsa businessman Joe Moran to draw attention to those nonprofit organizations that employ the tenets of excellence in their operations every day. Since its beginning, the program has awarded cash grants between $5,000 and $10,000 to exceptional Oklahoma Nonprofits. Every year, the ONE Awards recognize 21 nonprofit organizations making significant impacts on communities throughout Oklahoma.
The OKCNP was established in 1981 by Ray and Pat Potts to serve nonprofits in the learning business, management, and leadership skills.