Impactful Women of the 918: Alison Anthony

Alison Anthony has been the CEO of Tulsa Area United Way (TAUW) since 2018. “Every day when I awake,” she says, “I know that hardworking families across our community are having a tough time making ends meet. Every dollar we raise — every incredible nonprofit we fund and strengthen — means someone will have a better life.”

This desire to help others has been a key factor of Anthony’s life going back to her time as a sixteen-year-old Camp Fire counselor. Now a grandmother of five, she is motivated by her belief that “every child in our community should be just as loved and have just as many opportunities as my own kids — because, really, aren’t they all our children?”

During her time at the helm of TAUW, the organization has raised more than $184 million through annual fundraising, and it was able to establish an endowment of $12.6 million in 2024, as part of TAUW’s centennial campaign. Funds raised by TAUW go toward programs that support community health and better opportunities for individuals, including youth. For example, the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program, which works with girls whose parents are incarcerated, aiming to “break the cycle of intergenerational incarceration.” “I love knowing our work is changing the trajectory of a child’s life,” says Anthony.

In additional to her work with TAUW, Anthony makes time to mentor youth and young professionals. And she is writing three books, including a children’s book (reading to her grandkids is a favorite activity!) “I try to live so that the people and causes most important to me know that they are,” she says.