2002: Karen Cullen Luke

The Junior League of Oklahoma City

Causes/Issue Area(s): Community Leadership

Honors/Achievements: Vice-chair of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum Task Force

Junior League of Oklahoma City volunteer Karen Cullen Luke has been honored with The League's Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award. Luke is recognized in her community as a role model for active, effective citizenship, and compassionate yet focused leadership.

Luke's most prominent work has included building many of the first, most influential, and most innovative leadership programs in the community, and providing overwhelming support for the urgent recovery and rebuilding of Oklahoma City after the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. As vice-chair of the 350-member Memorial Task Force, she organized and empowered volunteer teams, raised money, comforted survivors and families of victims, created a mission statement, helped design the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, worked to convince Congress to designate the Memorial a National Park, and successfully lobbied the Oklahoma legislature to fund the Memorial's five million dollar construction.

She has been honored by her community with the Downtown Now Award for promoting and nurturing active leadership, the Girl Scouts of America Woman of Distinction Award, and the Oklahoma City University Society Woman of the Year Award.