Dear JDRF friends and families,

It is an exciting time filled with change at the Central Oklahoma Branch of JDRF.

Many of you are aware that in May 2012, the Central Oklahoma Chapter, Northwest Arkansas Branch, and Tulsa Green Country Chapter merged to create the newly formed Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas Chapter of JDRF.  This new partnership will provide a greater opportunity for the staff and volunteers in all three markets to collaborate and ultimately build a stronger Chapter.  Each location has maintained its current office, Board of Directors, and all of JDRF’s core programming events (Walk, Gala, Ride).  Each location now has in place a Branch Manager.

Andrea Flowers is the new Branch Manager for the Central Oklahoma Branch.Andreas career has been focused on fundraising, marketing and event management for the last twelve years.  Jackie Davey is the new Development Assistant who recently joined the team upon completion of her degree from Oklahoma State University.

Nikki DeFalco, previous Executive Director of the Tulsa Green Country Chapter, has assumed the role of Statewide Executive Director for the newly created Chapter.  Nikki has served as a JDRF staff member and volunteer for the last nine years.  In Nikki’s tenure as JDRF staff, she has led the Tulsa office to great success.  While Nikki is a dedicated staff member, she has also been living with type 1 diabetes since her teen years.

I know that you will enjoy getting to know the new staff, as I have, as we work together to further JDRFs mission of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes.

Sincerely,

Eric L. Johnson
President, Central Oklahoma Branch