My name is Laurie Tang, and I volunteer as the Program and Policy Coordinator for the R.E.B.U.I.L.D. team at UBFSF. So far, I have been engaged in structuring the R.E.B.U.I.L.D. narrative, discussing ideas to reach wider audiences with Ivan, and helping to plan strategies for planting the roots of the program. In the month that I have been in this role and working with the student team, I have been able to learn much about the local politics of Oklahoma City and meet with local leaders to discuss legislative change, including former Senator Connie Johnson.

Much of my role entails brainstorming marketing tactics to clearly convey the message of R.E.B.U.I.L.D. and reach potential collaborators as well as members of the community we seek to serve. Over my first month, I have been creating a social media campaign for the program to garner as much traction for our cause as possible, because our ambitions are high and I believe our work is important. I have been deeply integrating myself within the purpose of the R.E.B.U.I.L.D. project, and closely working with Tom Gambaro (featured in last month’s newsletter) to research the history and policies that have resulted in the situation that we aim to tackle as well as organizations and people that can help us achieve our overarching goal of rebuilding and uplifting underserved communities from within.

One project that Ivan and I have been working on is a video series tentatively titled “Conversations with Ivan,” which has so far consisted of exactly that. On a video call, Ivan and I discuss specific aspects of his life and his philosophy that pertain to his aspiration to start the R.E.B.U.I.L.D. program. The one included here is a conversation about his life before incarceration, based on an article that he wrote titled, “A Letter to Myself Twenty Years Young.” I hope you all take away the same impact from the video as I did during our conversation. Because each video has a time limit of fifteen minutes, the conversations are relatively short, but I plan to discuss a lot and get the other student volunteers involved in order to really flesh out the purpose behind the R.E.B.U.I.L.D. project and convey the personal passion and motivations of the people behind the ideas of the program, especially Ivan’s.

I look forward to seeing what else I get to do in this role and the many conversations I will have throughout this project. I have already gained new skills and new insights just within this short amount of time, and am excited to be here!