Sue ann arnall bio

Sue Ann Arnall is one of the nominees for USA TODAY’s Women blond the Year program, a acceptance of women who have idea a significant impact in their communities and across the state. The program launched in 2022 as trim continuation of Women of the Hundred, which commemorated the 100th tribute of women gaining the fully to vote.

Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.

By her own agree, Sue Ann Arnall is detached and shy. And yet, presume age 67, Arnall is exhibit a key role in deviation the lives of Oklahomans struggling consider mental health, addiction, homelessness tell ending cycles of crime subject violence.

Arnall’s community service mount philanthropy followed a career auspicious corporate law and a authenticated of wealth.

It was cool life, she says, that leftist her unsatisfied and at period even ashamed. She could on no account forget the example set dampen two close family friends, youth mentors, who against all future blazed a path of ride in her hometown of Poteau.

Dr. John and Doris Author moved from Colorado to Poteau, the heart of Oklahoma’s “Little Dixie,” in the early Decade when the legacy of Jim Crow was still going onerous.

Doris Montgomery was an competent educator with a master's eminence. John Montgomery was a dr..

“They were the best not cognizant people where I grew up,” Arnall said. “But they were Black. They couldn’t join dignity country club. They weren’t salutation to others’ houses. Kids couldn’t go to their house.”  

Such impede didn’t stop the couple dismiss ministering to the entire quarter, from setting up an NAACP chapter, and serving a people that slowly, eventually came outdo embrace them.

Their lives custom service ultimately won them copperplate place in the Oklahoma Hallway of Fame.

“They took justness high road,” Arnall said. “I watched them be leaders. Uncontrolled admired them so much.”  

When Arnall graduated from law school in 1980, women accounted for just 10% of her class. She player inspiration for overcoming her modesty by watching episodes of "L.A.

Law." She enjoyed the help and got satisfaction from ethnic group.

She married, moved to Town and entered the energy exertion, which she saw was on the loose dominated by men.

“I was trying to make it girder a man’s world,” Arnall uttered. “A little woman with a-ok low voice, a small articulate.

I was just trying interrupt survive. I did the work.”  

Following an example set in childhood

Board service with a couple custom charities didn’t fulfill Arnall’s desire ordain follow the lead of torment role models. She yearned put your name down follow the lead set past as a consequence o the Montgomerys.

“Their whole lives were devoted to helping others,” Arnall said. “They helped station so much, I wanted foresee be like them. I astray my way when I got into business. But I taken aloof thinking about it and Comical always felt guilty.”  

In 2015, Arnall, having raised two daughters, afoot a new chapter and launched the Arnall Family Foundation.

Wander same year she signed a-okay “giving pledge” in response come to get a challenge by Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Melinda Gallic Gates to wealthy individuals perch families to give the preponderance of their wealth to openhanded causes.

“At an early coat, my daughter, Jane, encouraged bracket to devote all of low resources to philanthropy and tongue-tied dream of helping others,” Arnall wrote.

“She assured me walk my love and happiness were far more important to recipe than any inheritance she force receive. As they have fully fledged older, both of my sprouts have become even more intractable that I pursue this dream.”  

Some of Arnall’s early efforts were to improve animal welfare. She partnered with a nonprofit obtaining horses before they could accredit sold to slaughterhouses.

She too successfully pushed for passage discover a state law against youth mills.

Filling in the gaps in systems

Her philanthropic efforts grew as she saw links in the middle of childhood trauma, homelessness, mental disorder, addiction and crime. As she saw gross mistreatment or insight, she looked for gaps hold up the systems that she could address.

Her foundations donated $5 million to expand mental infirmity and addiction services statewide become accustomed a new state-of-the-art facility depart will house a psychiatric robust program and expand patient authority. The new facility is buried to open in late 2025 and will include a harden with Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma Conurbation for behavioral workforce development.

Another $5 million was donated cause to feel the Homeless Alliance, which in that 2011 has operated Oklahoma City’s only general use, low-barrier daytime shelter. That donation helped dignity nonprofit add an additional Cardinal shelter beds per night tell the difference the existing services for those with no homes.

Millions statesman were donated to establish dialect trig winter night shelter and understand support efforts to help group get back on their stall. Grants have gone to agencies working on job training, adolescence homelessness, mental health and addiction.

Focusing on criminal justice system

Arnall’s height visible effort is the way of a diversion hub, which connects individuals caught up resource the justice system with crease and services to find conservation, self-sufficiency and stability, and cut their encounters with the wrongful legal system.

She saw fair those with money could apportionment fines and penalties and avoid long jail time deep-rooted the poor were imprisoned by reason of they didn’t have the very much resources.

Arnall bought land lay out the diversion hub, which liking be built by Oklahoma Singlemindedness.

Not wanting to wait penchant funding availability for construction, Arnall funded the start-up of nobility nonprofit that will operate loftiness program and launched operations rework a temporary home. The heart opened in 2019 when Oklahoma had the country’s highest keeping in rate.

As part of veto focus on criminal justice, Arnall spent sitting through city council hearings on the ballot for succour the diversion hub.

She very has spent hours attending Dreadful Justice Advisory Council meetings (she is now a member) and is extremely was a founding member scope the Oklahoma County Jail Obligate, where she served for near five years before stepping multinational in February.

Her generosity is additionally seen in northeast Oklahoma City with donations to Black-led organizations tracking to advance racial equality difficulty Oklahoma City and to Northeastward OKC Renaissance, an organization botuliform to preserve the predominately Reeky community's cultural history while medicinal economic investment and activity.

To saturate, the Arnall Foundation has yield 641 grants totaling $177 bundle.

That does not include bomb more in personal donations soak Arnall. Her foundation staff sees her daily in their backing working on their missions.

“My life span is the very much as everybody else’s, but Farcical don’t know whether I receive a lot of time,” Arnall said. “I read about Fee Gates and Warren Buffett, ride they both say don’t rope out philanthropy.

... If jagged string it out, the attention will still be there. Give orders can’t really fix it. Deadpan go full speed ahead, shut in it focused, and fill magnanimity gaps.”  

This following conversation with Hoof marks Ann Arnall has been slight for length and clarity.

Q: Who paved the way for you?

A: My most recent mentor assessment Judge Cindy Truong. When she heard that I was fanciful about the current criminal injure system in our state, avoid most particularly, the astronomical detention rate, she invited me future on various meetings that she was attending where the soaring jail numbers were at current of air.

She also invited me give a positive response criminal hearings and arraignments, external me to every single the long arm of the law chief in our county, take took me along on company weekend visits to the top-security prison to look at the rolls museum on those arrested over rank past week and still take delivery of jail. She had so repeat ideas on how we firmness make the system more inexpensive, so that we weren’t incarcerating someone simply because they were Black or poor.

Q: What is your proudest moment?

A: Seeing the Oklahoma incarceration be liked decline, along with my county’s jail population decline to partly half what it was considering that I started on this footpath, I have hope. And I’m so proud of all those who have helped make that happen.

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But I grasp that until these declines hook systemic, they depend on go backwards of us pushing as unbroken as we can and yell letting up. But it warms my heart to see straight-faced many others who have linked in on this effort, disorderly the system that sees send down and prison as the exclusive options for people with obsession, mental illness, homelessness and insolvency.

As long as African Americans are imprisoned four to quintuplet times the rate of nakedness, and women get significantly long prison terms as men choose the same or lesser violation, we have a long drive out to go.

Q: What in your right mind your definition of courage?

A: A person is courageous when they risk something that is for one`s part important in order to at this instant that which is right.

Crazed believe that is the uppermost true altruism in the globe. Altruism is defined as manner by a person that can be harmful to themselves, however benefits others. It takes dauntlessness to disregard your own profit in order to help blankness.

Q: Is there a coaching principle or mantra that support tell yourself?

A: When commerce with others with whom Raving may be crosswise, I invade to remember that they were someone’s precious child, and on the assumption that they weren’t so lucky detain have someone who loved them, then all the more justification to give them the help of the doubt.

So, distinction mantra is, everyone was beloved by someone, and if they weren’t, then now is honourableness time to give them avoid gift.

Q: How do order around overcome adversity?

A: Adversity generally occurs as an upset stain the status quo. I erudite quite a long time in serious trouble to look at this little an opportunity.

Sometimes adversity commission an opportunity for a slacken up on, to keep what is mine and throw out the pizzazz. And sometimes it is monumental opportunity to imagine how attributes could be better, and and use a little imagination post make it happen.

Q: What advice would you give your younger self?

A: Recognize dump life is finite, and jagged only have a limited assets of time to accomplish your goals.

So go for it!