Debra Mann is the Administrator of Tulsa Hope Academy, a private faith-based high school for under-served teens and adults. Ms. Mann received her Bachelor of Arts (BA/MIS) from the University of Oklahoma in Management of Information Systems, and she spent 15 years in the Information Technology (I.T.) field as a Senior Applications Developer for several major corporations.

In 2005, Ms. Mann combined her I.T. experience, faith, and passion for helping the people to pioneer new technology-driven dropout prevention and recovery pilot program, “Hope4Kids”. By 2009, the program had developed into a fully accredited high school, Tulsa Hope Academy. The school specializes in customizing education for a diverse student population. She oversees the daily operations and is the lead fundraiser for the completely privately funded school primarily for under-served and under-resourced students.

Ms. Mann is a Licensed Minister, Certified EC practitioner, and has 15 years of experience in teaching, counseling, non-profit development, and instructional technology and has served on several AdvancED Engagement Reviews teams.

Bethany Stevenson studied English Literature at Northeastern State University in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2003 and a Master of Arts in English Literature in 2005.

Upon finishing her education, feeding her love of literature and desire to help others, she gained employment with Tulsa Community College (TCC) at its Northeast Campus, working as a writing specialist in a tutoring center. In this role, she individually tutored students and taught writing workshops along with several self-paced courses. After three years of working as a writing specialist and adjunct professor, Ms. Stevenson moved into a full-time faculty role within TCC in which she coordinated writing, math, and computer lab for students and continued to teach primarily Composition I and Composition II. During her eight years of full-time work with TCC, she fell in love with teaching the writing process to both those who were college-ready and those who were not. She found that most students she taught were not born as naturally strong writers, but most all could learn how to write a well-developed, academic essay using various modes of writing. In this faculty role, she also worked as an academic advisor for Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), an International Honors Society for community colleges, and as the Honors Coordinator for the Northeast Campus (NEC). In 2010, she received two awards: the NEC Teaching Excellence Award for her work within the classroom and the regional PTK Academic Advisor of the Year Award. While she left full-time work in 2012 to be more available to her growing children, she continued to teach with TCC as an adjunct until 2016.

In 2018, she discovered the beautiful mission of Tulsa Hope Academy of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and began to serve its students by volunteer teaching an Honors Writing course. Ms. Stevenson is grateful for fourteen years in the classroom teaching students how to write in a thoughtful, organized manner.

Charica Daugherty is a Tulsa native and a graduate of Oklahoma State University. She has a Bachelor's degree in History and a Master's in Education with a focus on Curriculum.

Charica is an active artist who focuses on painting historical photographs of Black people in different eras of history. She believes in the power of visual curriculum and draws on a variety of imageries in her pedagogical practices.

Students can expect to experience film, photography, literature, and artwork in conglomeration with writing and inspiring conversations during their journey as students in her classroom.

Paul Ige Adeyanju is the Campus Pastor and Spiritual Development Manager of Tulsa Hope Academy and the author of "Distraction: Focusing on the Main Thing". He graduated Cum Laude with a B.Sc degree from Oral Roberts University (ORU - 2019) in Psychology with a minor in Business. He also holds a two-year diploma in Pastoral Ministries and Biblical Studies from Victory College (formerly known as Victory Bible College - 2014 & 2015).

After his secondary school education in Nigeria, Paul moved to the United States of America to further his educational aspirations. He is called to enlighten and encourage people with the genuine truth of God's Word. Hence, over the years, he has been involved in various speaking and teaching engagements and continues to use his God-given gifts to encourage others to live a life of good moral values, of hope, and of trust in God.

In 2017, Paul joined Tulsa Hope Academy as a Chaplain intern. A few weeks into the internship his fascination for mathematics and passion for teaching prompted him to become a math instructor, in addition to his Chaplain duties. His animated teaching style, sense of humor and use of technology have proven to be effective in helping the students learn well. Paul is also a musician, songwriter, and poet.

Charlene Johnson is the Individualized Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator at Tulsa Hope Academy. Originally from Montana, Charlene has a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Health from Montana State University.

Upon graduation, Charlene joined Teach for America to gain training in education equality and advocacy to close the education opportunity gap. After teaching in Tulsa Public Schools, Charlene moved into teaching, management and curriculum development for an enrichment program for adults with developmental disabilities.

Charlene has experience working with special education classes, reading and math intervention, and social skills.