Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Names Elizabeth Inbody as Executive Director
Elizabeth Inbody, a Tulsa-area education and nonprofit leader, has been named executive director of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, a statewide nonprofit that recognizes and encourages academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools.
Inbody will take the helm of the Foundation for Excellence on Jan. 3, 2022, after serving seven years as executive director of the award-winning Jenks Public Schools Foundation. She succeeds Emily Stratton, who recently retired after serving 22 years as executive director.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to continue Emily’s legacy of advancing outstanding educational initiatives throughout Oklahoma,” Inbody said. “I share her passion for public education and for the pursuit of academic excellence in Oklahoma public schools. I am motivated and honored to be joining such an accomplished organization.”
Jami Rhoades Antonisse, president of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, said the foundation board and staff are thrilled to welcome Inbody as the new executive director.
“Elizabeth Inbody brings a wealth of experience as a nonprofit leader and executive director of one of the state’s largest and most successful public school foundations,” Antonisse said. “Her knowledge and experience, coupled with her commitment to excellence in public education, will be great assets for the future of our foundation and for our state’s public schools.”
While at the Jenks Public Schools Foundation, Inbody completed a five-year STEM learning initiative to fund and support STEM learning labs at six Jenks Public Schools’ sites. She increased the foundation’s funding to Jenks Public Schools by 580 percent and created a strong strategic relationship between the foundation and the Jenks Public Schools’ leadership team, teachers and staff.
Prior to joining the Jenks Public Schools Foundation, Inbody served as communications and events coordinator for Crosstown Learning Center of Tulsa. She began her professional career in retail and served as the lead buyer of ladies’ apparel for Harold’s Stores for eight years.
Inbody is a past member of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Board of Trustees and has served on its Academic Awards Banquet, Oklahoma School Foundations Network and Executive committees. She currently serves on the Discovery Lab Children’s Museum Board of Directors and is an active member of the Jenks Rotary Club and the Jenks Chamber of Commerce. Inbody is a graduate of Leadership Jenks and Leadership Tulsa. She is an active member at her church, her sorority alumni organization, and the Jenks National Charity League. Inbody graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing. She and her husband, Brian Inbody, a shareholder at Hall Estill law firm, are the parents of one son and three daughters.
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence was founded in 1985 by then U.S. Sen. David L. Boren to strengthen support for public education in Oklahoma. Through its flagship Academic Awards Program, the foundation has presented more than $5.1 million in cash awards to honor outstanding public school students and educators. Through its Oklahoma School Foundations Network, the foundation provides training and networking opportunities to more than 200 public education foundations across the state.
Among its other initiatives, the Foundation for Excellence coordinates a summer fellowship program to send Oklahoma fifth- and eighth-grade teachers to the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute. Through its statewide mentoring initiative, the foundation supports the development of quality youth mentoring as a positive step toward academic success.
The foundation partners with the national Fund for Teachers and the Tulsa Community Foundation to provide grants for self-designed summer professional development opportunities for teachers in locations around the world. The foundation recently completed the pilot phase of its Teachers of English Learners Project, an online learning and networking platform to support classroom teachers in elementary schools with high enrollment of English Learners. The platform is now available free to teachers statewide through the State Department of Education.
Since 1987, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and its partners have invested more than $12.6 million in teacher grants, scholarships and awards directly benefiting Oklahoma public school teachers and students.
