Staff Info

The Oklahoma Marriage Initiative is a project of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS). When the Initiative was first formed, OKDHS made the determination to contract with an outside firm to serve as the Project Manager for the project. Public Strategies, Inc. (PSI), an Oklahoma based public relations and public affairs firm, serves that function for OKDHS and manages all OMI programs and services under their leadership.

The staff at PSI is dedicated to the mission of the OMI and works diligently to grow this social service prevention project so that needed services are implemented. Each employee brings a unique professional background and perspective to the OMI team.

In addition to PSI staff members, this page will give you information about key agency liaisons that are integral to the planning and implementation process of the OMI. Please take a moment to learn more about the individual members of our team. Want to contact any of these people? Click here.

Mary Myrick, APR - Myrick, an Accredited Public Relations Professional (APR), is the President of Public Strategies, an Oklahoma based firm with national, state and local clients. She and her team of employees provide a variety of services including strategic planning, project management, advocacy, program development, event planning, training, and public relations.

One of the firm's current clients is the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, with a contract to serve as the Project Manager of the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative (OMI), a statewide public-private partnership dedicated to strengthening marriages. The OMI is widely recognized as the country's first statewide, comprehensive program model for creating and providing skills-based couple services with a foundational commitment to marriage and family formation.

Under Myrick's leadership, the OMI has recruited a highly distinguished Research Advisory Group consisting of state and national experts on marriage, divorce, and low-income families; has developed and implemented the first comprehensive statewide baseline survey to assess marriage (marital and divorce related attitudes as well as demographics); is implementing a multi-sector strategy, building collaborations with state agencies, service providers, educators, faith groups, business, and the media, and has launched a statewide skills-based marriage and relationship education service delivery system, utilizing the research-based Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) as the core curriculum.

Sammye Norvell Cravens, CPA - Cravens, Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer joined Public Strategies having previously served in lead financial roles with McDonald’s Corporation, Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation and Eateries, Inc. Cravens is a Certified Public Accountant and graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with a bachelor of business administration degree with a major in accounting. She is active in many civic organizations, including Leadership Oklahoma Class X, Leadership Oklahoma City Class XIII, Boys and Girls Club of Oklahoma County Board of Directors and the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association Memorial Fundraising Committee.

JoAnne Eason - Eason, Vice President of Special Projects/Business Development for PSI, has 22 years of national and local business marketing experience. Her previous experience and understanding of various audiences makes her a valuable resource in leading special OMI projects including: Prison PREP - Inside and Out, Connections PREP for high school students, Beyond the Chuppah for the Jewish community and Military PREP for couples preparing for deployment or reuniting following a tour of duty. Eason provides solutions in marketing, strategy development and research design and analysis. Eason has also earned her Certificate in Meetings and Event Management through Meeting Planners International and The University of Oklahoma

Kendy Cox - Cox serves as the director of the OMI marriage education service delivery system. In this role, she provides program supervision to a dynamic team of coordinators tasked to develop and grow marriage education services across the state. In addition, she manages partnerships with numerous state agencies and organizations in efforts to effectively provide access to services and supports to both couples and individuals. She has been involved with the project throughout its development and implementation stages and provides oversight and technical assistance to other states and communities regarding marriage services. She has a B.A. in mass communications with a broadcast journalism emphasis, and has experience in developing strategic plans and building and managing coalitions.

Courtney Harrison, MPA - Courtney serves as the OMI Director of Policy and Program Development. She joined Public Strategies after serving as a Policy Specialist with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) for the past three and one-half years. During her time at NCSL, she worked on issues related to welfare and employment, supports for low-income families, faith-based initiatives in social services and developed a national and multi-state understanding of state marriage initiatives. Courtney received a Bachelor of Science, Public Affairs and a Master of Public Affairs, Policy Analysis and Comparative & International Affairs from Indiana University.

Jack Myrick - Myrick brings 23 years of business experience to the SDS team. His background is primarily in the hospitality industry, and includes founding and running a division of PSI that delivers educational seminars to restaurant managers throughout the southern United States. Jack also serves as deputy director for the OMI service delivery system and provides technical assistance to the area coordinators and those workshops leaders they serve to best facilitate the different needs of Oklahoma communities for maximum marital education provision.

Tony Russell, LPC - Russell earned his degree in Community Counseling and is a Licensed Professional Counselor. He has worked in a variety of settings including community mental health and mental health insurance administration for low-income and disadvantaged populations. Russell has a heart for building strong families. Before coming onboard with the Public Strategies team, Russell was one of our PREP workshop leaders so he has firsthand experience with the impact of the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative on families. He is the program coordinator for OMI efforts to serve adoptive couples and low-income singles through relationship education strategies.

Debbie Bell, MHR - Bell brings twelve years of expertise in program and curriculum development and delivering services to Oklahoma families. Her passion for strengthening families led her to develop Oklahoma’s first educational workshops for divorcing parents, which are still taught today. Her years of experience working with adults and children at Calm Waters Center for Children and Families serve her well in her role as Rural Service Delivery Coordinator where she focuses on increasing access to services and supports. Bell is also qualified as a Family Mediator, with a particular interest in stepfamily issues and contracts. Her focus areas of communication, team-building, mediation, facilitation, and training make her a valuable asset to the mission of OMI.

Leah Moses-Rubio - Moses-Rubio serves as the Service Delivery Coordinator in the Tulsa area. She works with current workshop leaders and standing capacity sites, as well as develops new relationships with organizations and individuals in Tulsa to continue expanding services to Oklahomans. A native of Oklahoma City, Moses-Rubio holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s degree in Family and Child Studies from the University of Central Oklahoma. Moses-Rubio has previously worked with a Domestic Violence Prevention program, and was the Child Care Consultant to the UAW/GM employees at the General Motors Oklahoma City Assembly Plant.

Jennifer Pierce - Pierce is the Public Information Specialist for Public Strategies, Inc. She works with local, state and national media-- providing news agencies with press releases and interviews about the latest events and projects within the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative, Governor’s Safe Schools Summit and Youth Services for Oklahoma County. She also informs the network of OMI supporters and workshops leaders on the latest news happening within the OMI through the Oklahoma Marriage Minute newsletter, which is produced and distributed on a bi-weekly basis, as well as, updating and refreshing content on the OMI website. Internally, she provides support in copy editing on various informational and marketing materials.
Jennifer has a background in television journalism. Before joining the team at PSI, she worked as a reporter at KWTV News 9, the local CBS affiliate. She has also worked as an on air reporter/anchor in Tulsa and Lawton, Oklahoma. Jennifer graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a degree in Broadcast Communications.

Scott Roby - Roby recently joined the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative team as the liaison to the Oklahoma Association of Youth Services (OAYS) and its 42 member agencies, Coordinator/Instructor-Trainer for the Within My Reach Curriculum and a Training/Technical Assistance Consultant providing on-site and remote support to other States as they develop and implement marriage education strategies.
Scott has worked in the Youth Services field for 17 years, most recently for the Oklahoma Association of Youth Services as their Prevention Programs Specialist.He was instrumental in the development of the First Time Offender Program (FTOP/PREP) curriculum, which incorporates the PREP content and is used statewide. FTOP/PREP is designed to reduce the number of youth who choose to re-offend by educating participants in effective communication, problem solving, anger management and conflict resolution skills. All with the goal that youth leave the program better equipped to make better decisions in the future. Scott is a certified instructor of "Becoming a Love and Logic Parent", a certified “Trainer of trainers” for the Human Experience Institute of Park City, Utah, and co-founder of Resiliency Adventures, Inc. an adventure based leadership development company.

Bob Davis - Mr. Davis joined the OMI team in January 2006 as a Fatherhood Coordinator for Family Expectations. Recently, Davis has moved to the position of Oklahoma City Service Delivery Coordinator. Davis works to coordinate ongoing marriage/relationship education workshops and large-scale events in the metro area. In addition to his OMI duties, Davis is a minister at an Oklahoma City metro church. Davis received his Masters degree in Biblical Studies from the University of Central America and Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism from Langston University.

Alicia Hanson - Ms. Hanson also serves as an Oklahoma City Service Delivery Coordinator. Hanson previously held a position as Community Outreach Coordinator for Crossings Community Church, where she acted as the liaison between community organizations and church volunteers to coordinate campaigns and projects. As a world traveler, she has spent time on various projects in Honduras, Northern Ireland and Germany. Hanson attended John Brown University in Siloam Springs, AR and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Rachel West - Ms. West is originally from Wichita Falls, TX and graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Before joining the OMI West worked in Austin, TX for TradeOne Marketing as a program administrator on the Sealy, IBM and Lenovo accounts. In her current position at OMI she is responsible for the data management of two federally funded research projects: Building Strong Families and Supporting Healthy Marriages. These research projects are connected to the OMI’s Family Expectations program. Also functioning as the Systems Coordinator for the Service Delivery System, West develops and maintains support documents and systems to ensure that the team functions within appropriate protocols and budgets.

Agency/Partner Liaisons

Mary Jo Kinzie, DHS - Mary Jo has worked professionally as a social worker since 1976 and has been employed with DHS for 25 years. She earned her MSW in 1993. Related to the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative, Mary Jo has served as the contract monitor and DHS Liaison for five years.