Tulsa, Oklahoma, is working to address blighted and vacant properties that impact neighborhood safety, reduce housing stability, and limit long-term economic growth. The FUSE Executive Fellow will develop and implement strategic recommendations to streamline enforcement, consolidate property data, and improve rehabilitation programs. Ultimately, this work will help Tulsa reduce vacancy, expand affordable housing opportunities, and foster safer, more resilient neighborhoods that promote long-term stability and opportunity for all residents.

Fellowship Dates: April 27, 2026 – April 23, 2027

Salary: Executive Fellows are FUSE employees and receive an annual base salary of $95,000. Fellows can also access various health, dental, and vision insurance benefits. Compensation for this year of public service is not intended to represent market-rate compensation for the experienced professionals in our program.

ABOUT THE FUSE EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIP

FUSE is a national nonprofit working to expand social and economic opportunities, particularly for communities that have been limited by a history of systemic and institutionalized racism. FUSE partners with local governments and communities to more effectively address pressing challenges by placing experienced professionals within city and county agencies. These FUSE Executive Fellows lead strategic projects designed to advance racial equity and accelerate systems change. Since 2012, FUSE has led over 250 projects in 40 governments across 20 states, impacting the lives of 25 million people.

When designing each fellowship project, FUSE works closely with government partners and local stakeholders to define a scope of work that will achieve substantive progress toward regional priorities. FUSE then conducts an individualized search for each project to ensure that the selected candidate has at least 15 years of professional experience, the required competencies for the role, and deep connections to the communities being served. They are data-driven and results-oriented and able to effectively manage complex projects by developing actionable roadmaps and monitoring progress to completion.

Executive Fellows are hired as FUSE employees and embedded in government agencies for at least one year of full-time work. Throughout their fellowships, they receive training, coaching, and professional support from FUSE to help achieve their project goals. FUSE Executive Fellows bring diverse perspectives and new approaches to their projects. They build strong relationships with diverse arrays of stakeholders, foster alignment within.

PROJECT CONTEXT

Blighted and vacant properties impact neighborhood safety, reduce housing stability, and limit long-term economic growth. These properties are often abandoned homes, deteriorating commercial strip centers, or neglected hotels. They create health and safety hazards, attract crime, and accelerate neighborhood decline. Concentrations of blight reduce property values, weaken incentives for upkeep, and erode community confidence, creating a cycle of disinvestment that disproportionately impacts historically underserved neighborhoods. Addressing blight requires coordinated efforts to consolidate data, streamline enforcement and rehabilitation programs, and align redevelopment with broader housing and community priorities.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, North and East Tulsa have experienced significant disinvestment stemming from historic and systemic inequities, including the lasting impacts of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, redlining, school closures, and suburban flight. These factors have compounded cycles of vacancy and decline, leaving neighborhoods with disproportionate concentrations of blighted properties and fewer opportunities for stable housing and generational wealth-building. While the City has taken steps to consolidate property data, pilot new housing programs, and leverage state legislation such as House Bill 2147, challenges remain. Fragmented systems, limited resources, and lengthy legal processes continue to slow efforts to return vacant and blighted properties to productive use.

The City of Tulsa will partner with FUSE to design and implement a coordinated strategy for addressing blighted and vacant properties. The FUSE Executive Fellow will: conduct a landscape analysis and listening tour with city staff, state legislators, neighborhood associations, and housing partners; assess Tulsa’s current enforcement and rehabilitation programs; evaluate opportunities created by House Bill 2147; and research best practices from other cities. The fellow will develop strategic recommendations to streamline legal and enforcement processes, align housing funds with rehabilitation and preservation goals, and design pilot initiatives to test and refine improvements. Ultimately, this project will help Tulsa reduce blight, expand affordable housing, and strengthen neighborhood stability, contributing to safer, more resilient communities citywide.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Beginning in April 2026, the FUSE Executive Fellow will work with the City of Tulsa’s Housing Office, Planning & Neighborhoods Department, community partners, residents, and state and county stakeholders to develop and implement strategic recommendations to reduce blighted and vacant properties.

The fellow will begin by conducting a comprehensive listening tour involving city staff, neighborhood associations, and place-based community organizations, such as Northside Neighbors, Eastside Rise, and Growing Together, as well as legacy community residents, large-scale property owners, and state and county officials, including the Tulsa County Assessor and Treasurer. The fellow will also engage departments such as Code Enforcement, City Legal and Legislative Affairs, which oversee foreclosure and ordinance processes. The listening tour will gather insights into barriers that affect blight such as fragmented data, code enforcement backlogs, rehabilitation challenges, including identifying and classifying housing that may need to be rehabilitated in the near future, the repair and stabilization needs of housing stock that could still be saved from demolition, and limited redevelopment pathways. Throughout this process, the fellow will work to include a diverse range of perspectives to ensure the strategy reflects the needs of historically underserved communities most affected by blight and disinvestment.

The fellow will also conduct a landscape analysis of Tulsa’s existing programs and policies related to vacant and blighted properties. This will include evaluating the emergency rehabilitation and repair programs, the $5 million Improve Our Tulsa 3 rehabilitation and preservation fund, and the Community Builder initiative targeting large-scale landlords. The fellow will also assess implementation of House Bill 2147, which streamlines foreclosure on liens, and research best practices from other cities that have successfully reduced vacancy and repurposed properties. The fellow will then provide more specific analysis of the impact of existing programs and policies for the areas represented by the place-based community organizations listed above. Drawing on this analysis and community input, the fellow will develop a set of specific project goals and deliverables for review and approval by the fellow’s Supervisor before entering the next phase of work.

The fellow will use these insights to design a coordinated strategy to improve how Tulsa identifies, tracks, and addresses blighted properties. This will include recommending process improvements for enforcement and foreclosure, designing frameworks to unify city property databases, recommendations for establishing more closely aligned partnership opportunities with place-based organizations in target areas, and aligning rehabilitation funds with affordable housing outcomes. The strategy will also include specific recommendations for strengthening partnerships between the City and the identified place-based community organizations, identifying ways these partners can support implementation of rehabilitation and blight reduction initiatives in specific geographic areas, particularly where organizations have deep community ties but the City may have funding without sufficient implementation capacity. The fellow may also design and launch pilot initiatives to test reforms, as time allows, such as a streamlined foreclosure workflow or improvements to the emergency rehabilitation and repair programs. These pilots will be tested in partnership with place-based community organizations within the specific geographic neighborhoods they serve, such as North and East Tulsa, providing real-world evidence of how policy and process changes can be scaled citywide while centering the needs of communities most impacted by blight. The fellow will work with stakeholders to build support and ensure equitable outcomes.

The fellow will deliver a strategic roadmap and operational plan that outlines steps for sustaining progress beyond the fellowship. This will include policy and legal recommendations, program design improvements, standardized workflows for city staff, and a framework for ongoing data coordination. The roadmap will also define long-term implementation goals, milestones, and responsible partners, along with monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track efficiency, vacancy reduction, and housing outcomes over time. This effort will position Tulsa to transform neglected properties back into productive use, increase housing opportunities, and strengthen neighborhood stability for generations to come.

PROJECT DELIVERABLES

By April 2027, the fellow will have produced the following, each with a particular focus on North and East Tulsa:

  • Developed Policy and Legal Recommendations – Worked with city, county, and state partners to deliver actionable recommendations that refine foreclosure and lien enforcement processes under House Bill 2147, accelerating the return of blighted properties to productive use.
  • Designed Unified Data Framework – Created an integrated system that consolidates property information across city departments, improving the City’s ability to track, analyze, and respond to vacant and neglected properties more efficiently.
  • Enhanced Rehabilitation and Repair Programs – Developed recommendations to streamline the City’s emergency rehabilitation and repair programs and guided allocation of the $5 million Improve Our Tulsa 3 preservation fund, resulting in improved housing stability for residents.
  • Designed Pilot Initiatives – Designed and implemented at least one pilot, such as a streamlined foreclosure workflow or program improvements for property rehabilitation, testing implementation approaches in partnership with place-based community organizations, providing recommendations to refine strategies for citywide adoption and the expansion of City and community organization partnerships.
  • Produced Long-Term Strategic Roadmap – Delivered a comprehensive plan with standardized workflows, implementation milestones, and monitoring tools to ensure sustainability of blight reduction strategies and long-term neighborhood stability beyond the fellowship.

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

  • Executive Sponsor – Gene Bulmash, Senior Advisor to Mayor Nichols - Housing
  • Project Supervisor – James Wagner, Deputy City Administrator for Planning and Performance

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Synthesizes complex information into clear and concise recommendations and action-oriented implementation plans.
  • Develops and effectively implements both strategic and operational project management plans.
  • Generates innovative, data-driven, and result-oriented solutions to complex challenges.
  • Respond quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies, and other processes.
  • Communicates effectively verbally and in writing and excels in active listening and conversing.
  • Fosters collaboration across multiple constituencies to support more effective decision-making.
  • Establishes and maintains strong relationships with diverse stakeholders, both inside and outside of government, particularly community-based relationships.
  • Embraces differing viewpoints and implements strategies to find common ground.
  • Demonstrates confidence and professional diplomacy while effectively interacting with individuals at all levels of various organizations.

FUSE is an equal-opportunity employer with core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply for this position.