Tulsa Innovation Labs 2022 Year In Review

Dear Friends,

What a year! I am so proud of the TIL team, our initiative partners, and our Tulsa community.
From EIC Rose Rock to Build Back Better to the Cyber Skills Center, TIL earned big wins this year.

These successes–three years in the making–have helped us validate our theory
of change. TIL’s focus on strategic clusters, the value we place on inclusion,
and our methodical and collaborative approach are bearing fruit.

Although we have significant momentum heading into 2023, we cannot rest on
our laurels. Building an inclusive innovation economy is a generational effort. The
work is just now beginning, and we have big plans for the years ahead.

At TIL’s first Inside Innovation Summit held in September, I outlined TIL’s priorities
for 2023. As we close 2022, I want to revisit our priorities for the new year:

First, we will continue to work with local and regional partners to secure broader and deeper
strategic alignment, working together to grow Tulsa’s most promising tech clusters.

Second, to scale and sustain our initiatives, we will build partnerships with national
companies and continue to support our peers engaged in corporate attraction.

Third, we will create more targeted interventions to expand access and
opportunity for Tulsans from underserved backgrounds.

Fourth, we will build a more robust development function within our partnerships team to engage
state, federal, philanthropic, and corporate partners and connect them to our initiatives.

And fifth, we will share the Tulsa story with wider and more diverse audiences,
deploying creative communications tools, including thought leadership pieces,
to promote the transformational work happening in our city.

2022 was a good year for TIL. But we need to maintain our sense of urgency because, in
emerging technology, the winner is often the person, company, or city that gets there first.

In my first public appearance as the leader of Tulsa Innovation Labs–way back in 2019–I
made a hypothesis: Tulsa had most of the ingredients it needed to become a tech hub
and through strategic focus and coordinated investment, we could create a thriving and
inclusive innovation economy. As I hope you’ve all recently seen, Tulsa has those ingredients
and more! This year has proven that Tulsa’s potential is limitless if we work together.

To continued and shared success,

Nicholas Lalla
Founder & Managing Director
Tulsa Innovation Labs

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READ OUR 2022 YEAR IN REVIEW HERE.