United Way Appoints Comanche Nation Chairman to Board

Comanche Nation Chairman Mark Woommavovah has been appointed to be on the board of directors of United Way of Southwest Oklahoma. He is the first chairman to sit on the board.

“United Way did some research, and they informed me that I am the first Native American to include the first chairman that sits on their board of directors,” he said. “So, it's quite an honor, not only that, to represent not only the Comanche Nation but other tribes and other sovereign nations in our community.”

Woommavovah said the board is comprised of community leaders and members.

“It's a great opportunity to share what we need as Native people and the value that we bring to our community, and they have just embraced that,” he said. “So, I look forward to it. We live and breathe in the Lawton-Fort Sill area, and Southwest Oklahoma is our home.”

Woommovovah said the community is the root of the United Way.

“One of the main goals they have is community connection, and I think this is a big part of it. Reaching out to the community and connecting to the community. They have a great staff here,” he said. “That great staff is always in the community taking care of the families in the community, taking care of just their basic needs to include education, health, as well as providing for them. So, we're all in, and we're all in together.”

Woommavovah said his primary goal as a board member is to support the president.

“Lauren Ellis, she is our president and CEO. She has some initiatives and goals that she's going to put out for the new year, and our job as a board is to help her achieve those goals, not only in our community but in Southwest Oklahoma,” he said.

Woommavovah said the United Way provides opportunities for different organizations to give back.

President and CEO Lauren Ellis said having a chairman on the board is something she’s pushed for the past nine years.

“He learned about what we're doing and a lot of what we do. We have 20 funded local non-profit partners, but we provide a lot of info and referral and so our goal is to understand all of the resources throughout the community, not just our partners,” she said. “So, we're trying to expand into the services that are provided by the tribes and by the nation so we can provide that information when people call and need help because we are receiving more calls every day than we ever have before. And so, when we had the conversation about what we're doing for the people who call and the people who walk in and need help and then learning about the passions that the Nation have, it was a perfect fit.”

Ellis said they both have big ideas, but the goal is to network.

“Just really becoming better plugged in, like I said, it's our job to be a resource for community members whether it's Fort Sill soldiers or tribal members and families or just anyone who's needing help,” she said. “And so, our goal every day, my team does a great job of updating our resources and so just building that network and that familiarity with whatever is being offered so that we can better help our community.”

Success by Six is one of their newest programs for children to be eager to learn by kindergarten, which begins by helping families.

“Our newest programs that we're working with our Success by Six, that's our in-house early education initiative, is our family empowerment program, and the Nation is actually one of our sites that hosts one Thursday a month for us and so that's a great partnership that we've never had before as well,” Ellis said. “And so, I just look forward to that relationship growing so that we can get into neighborhoods that are vulnerable that maybe we're not familiar with.”

The Comanche Nation Academy Charter School on 1701 NW Taft in Lawton, Oklahoma, hosts Success by Six every first Thursday of the month.

Woommavovah said the United Way has a good team, and he’s honored to be on the board.

The United Way is located at 1116 SW A Avenue and can be contacted at 580-355-0218.