OKLAHOMA CITY
OKLAHOMA
Meet your Chapter Directors!
Chelsi LeBarre
Chelsi is originally from Louisiana, but spent the majority of her life in Oklahoma. She grew up in Broken Arrow and relocated to Edmond where she received her MBA from University of Central Oklahoma. In her early career, she landed in nonprofit development and grew from there, culminating in her position as Director of Development and Community Engagement at Oklahoma Humanities, where she was in charge of all fundraising, grant management, community partnerships, and marketing, and communications.
Soon after the pandemic, she knew that she could no longer work for any organization where her personhood as a Black woman wasn't honored, respected, or protected. Then, when she got pregnant with her first child, she took the big leap to go out on her own. Now, as a mom of two, she’s able to focus on her family first while building her business, which fuels her passion of creating inclusive spaces for women, especially women of color. Chelsi’s hobbies include traveling, seeing live music, reading, and sleeping.
Her favorite quote is “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Brielle Thierry
Brielle is a phenomenal educator. She has her Bachelors in Broadcast Journalism and Theatre Arts Masters in Education. She has been teaching in the OKC metro area for the last 11 years and it is her purpose. She spend her days leaving an imprint on her scholars that will last for years to come. Her claim to fame this school year was doing the splits (yeah that happened). She keeps a fully engaged classroom by building positive relationships with her scholars. She places systems/procedures to ensure a safe classroom. She manages student behavior to ensure all students are fully engaged in learning.
The thing she does very well is establish a culture of high expectations. Her motto is "You're going to meet my expectations or exceed them. That's your only option. She has a YouTube channel with phonics videos because teaching scholars to read is the best feeling. It is something that cannot be matched.