TAUW LEGENDS: BILL & BOB Thomas
The TAUW Legends video series preserves the voices and stories of those who shaped our first century of service. As part of our Centennial celebration, Jesse Boudiette, president of Propeller Consulting and Centennial Committee member, sat down with Bill and Bob Thomas, who co-chaired the 2002 annual fundraising drive.
Join us in continuing Bill and Bob’s legacy of compassion and community impact. Your gift today in honor of them helps write the next chapter of our story, ensuring that future generations will have access to the same life-changing services that have touched so many lives over the past century.
interview highlights
Jesse Boudiette: Bill and Bob Thomas, thanks for joining us today. Tell me a little bit about how you first got involved with the Tulsa Area United Way. How did that start?
Bob Thomas: I wish I remembered the exact year, but it’s just really with the late ’80s, probably 1986.
Bill Thomas: And I started following Bob’s illustrious path because that 1986 grew into about 15 years of work with the United Way.
Jesse Boudiette: You know, the United Way and the agencies that it supports have their day jobs all the time, and that need is plentiful. But we’ve also seen numerous unexpected challenges that hit Tulsa or the nation. You chaired in 2002 after 9/11. What have you seen with the United Way’s ability to pivot quickly to serve those unexpected challenges?
Bill Thomas: Well, we’re seeing it now in terms of what they’re thinking about in the future, in terms of taking advantage of their hundredth year to think about an endowment in terms of supporting specific actions—the kind of things that sometimes only occur once every two, three, four years. But having an endowment of the income to be able to support that kind of thing. We’ve seen them step up in really tough, tough times. We saw them step up during, certainly during 9/11. We saw them step up during the crash of 2008. We’ve seen them react, and we’ve seen them take leadership with other organizations in Tulsa, stepping through the same thing, and United Way was one of those always recognized as a leader.
Bob Thomas: The Tulsa Area United Way is so fundamental. It’s such a fundamental organization for our community. It represents some 70 agencies. It is so fundamental in providing those basic needs and services. As a leader, as just a person, it is “lend your good name” to the Tulsa United Way. Obviously, that lending your name means really providing it resources as well. But year in and year out, you can say, “This is meaningful to me,” and if it’s meaningful to you, the impression you can, as a civic leader, can make on others because you are putting your money with the Tulsa United Way and giving them the really, in a sense, the Seal of Approval, is often important. It’s inspirational, and it’s motivational.