Impactful Women of the 918: Rainey Talbot

For 16 years, Rainey Talbot has helped share the stories of CAP Tulsa‘s children and families, raising awareness of the challenges they face and the role early childhood education can play in creating opportunity.

CAP Tulsa provides high-quality early childhood education for children from low-income families while offering services and resources to support their parents and guardians. Talbot says the organization believes every child and family deserves the same opportunities to succeed.

For Talbot, working at CAP Tulsa has changed the way she understands poverty and the importance of telling families’ stories “with respect and authenticity.”

Before joining the organization, she says she had no idea that one in three children under age 5 in Tulsa County lives in poverty. She is continually inspired by families who, while working to meet their basic needs, bring their children to school and participate in parenting programs, English classes and other opportunities.

“I am constantly humbled by their spirit and determination to make a great life for their family,” Talbot says.

Outside of CAP Tulsa, Talbot serves as president of the Tulsa chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and recently completed two years on the board of trustees for the League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Tulsa.

Q&A with Rainey Talbot

Can you tell us about your career journey and what led you to CAP Tulsa?

After a nearly 20-year career in car rental, I left Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group (DTAG) in 2008. My career there began as an entry-level call center reservation agent. Thanks to their tuition reimbursement program, I earned my bachelor’s degree in marketing from NSU and was able to establish a career in marketing that eventually led to be named Executive Director of National Advertising & Loyalty Programs for both brands. After leaving DTAG, I worked for a short time as a project manager and a caterer but eventually found my next career as Director of Marketing & Public Relations for CAP Tulsa in 2010.

While car rental and early childhood education are worlds apart, creating opportunities to build brand awareness, to tell client stories, and to increase employee engagement are universal drivers to an organization’s success. You wear a lot of hats in the nonprofit world, so the work is different every day, but knowing that our work can make a huge difference for the youngest and most vulnerable in our community makes it easy to grab another hat and ask, “what’s next?”

For readers who may not be familiar with CAP Tulsa, can you briefly describe its mission and why it matters for Tulsa families?

CAP Tulsa, or Community Action Project of Tulsa County, is an anti-poverty non-profit that provides high-quality child care and early childhood education to children under the age of five for low-income families. We use a two-generation (2Gen) approach that also provides supportive services to the parents and guardians of the children in our school-based and home-visiting early learning programs. Young children living in poverty often enter behind in their development by the time they reach kindergarten, and it is very hard for them to ever catch up. CAP Tulsa’s whole child approach focuses on the mental, physical, and social development skills that are needed to be prepared for kindergarten and beyond. We believe every child and family deserves the same opportunities to succeed.

As a communications professional, you spend your career telling other people’s stories. What has been one of the most meaningful stories you’ve had the privilege to share?

There have been so many stories over the past 16 years that have touched me because even the smallest things, or the things most of us take for granted, can make such a big difference. I think the full-circle stories always stick with me the most. During my second year at CAP, I interviewed Jennifer and her family. They had moved from another state because her husband had the offer of a new job. They had no friends or family here, no support system, and he suddenly lost his job. Fortunately, they were able to get their two kids into CAP Tulsa, and Jennifer got into a CDA program that got her working to support their family. CAP also helped her son with some speech delays, and both kids thrived in our program.

Last year, I ran into Jennifer, and she excitedly shared that she had finished her RN degree and her children were excelling in school. When I first met her, she told me it was her dream to go back to her home state to work in the Indian Health Care system to be able to give back to her community. When I saw her, she told me that she was getting closer to her goal, and it was because of the help she got through CAP Tulsa. 13 years had passed since that interview, but she still attributed so much to where she and her family were now to the support we had provided. Many hugs were shared, and a few tears were shed!

How has your work at CAP Tulsa changed the way you think about early childhood education and breaking the cycle of poverty?

I hope it has made me more understanding of the challenges that so many families face and how to tell their stories with respect and authenticity. I am fortunate that I grew up in a home that didn’t experience hunger or the fear of not being able to pay the bills or knowing where we were going to sleep that night. I was aware that this existed, but until I came to CAP Tulsa, I had no idea that one in three children under the age of five lives in poverty in Tulsa County. That is an astounding and heartbreaking number. To know just how much our families struggle each day and that they are showing up, they are still bringing their children to school, they are participating in parenting programs or ESL classes, all while trying to meet the basic needs of their families, that’s a lot. I am constantly humbled by their spirit and determination to make a great life for their family and to ensure their children have the benefit of early education, so they are ready for kindergarten.

Outside of your role at CAP Tulsa, are there organizations, volunteer work or community efforts that are especially meaningful to you?

I am currently serving as the Board President for the Tulsa Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). I have been a member of PRSA since 2016 and earned Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) through PRSA in 2017.  I appreciate the focus that PRSA puts on ethics in our profession and have been more successful in my career by applying their strategic framework of Research, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation. I also recently completed two years of service on the Board of Trustees for the League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Tulsa. The League is a nonpartisan organization focused on voter education and advocacy. Your vote is your voice, and we all need to be educated and active participants in our government by getting out and voting during every election.