Meet the New Philanthropists: Tony Li & Shawna Burroughs

Photography by McKenzie Ashton & Cole Chandler

Tony Li and Shawna Burroughs, co-chairs of the 2024 Tulsa CARES Red Ribbon Gala, Year of the Dragon, are working hard. When Luxiere caught up with them, they were cheerful, charming and passionate and they’d also clearly entered the giddy, exhausted phase of event planning where you’re fantasizing about the after-party. If you’ve been at the helm of a nonprofit event, you know exactly what we mean.

It’s a big deal, this gala they’re chairing. Their work — and that of their brilliant committee — on the 2024 installment of the Red Ribbon Gala will support the life-saving efforts of Tulsa CARES, a nonprofit founded in 1991 during some of the darkest days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In those early years, compassionate help was hard to come by and the stigma of this now-manageable disease was heartbreaking. Today, Tulsa CARES is the largest, most comprehensive provider of prevention and care programs for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C in Oklahoma. Absolutely crucial work.

Burroughs and Li are following in some really impressive footsteps. In 2023, the Red Ribbon Gala generated $1.2 million. “Our fundraising goal is $1 million, but I am crossing my fingers and knocking on wood that we do $1.5,” says Li. “We have an incredible, well-connected committee who have been working very hard.”

A single ticket to Red Ribbon is a cool grand, costly by any measure, and that’s on purpose, Li explains. “We need money. I had a conversation with someone who felt excluded. They said no one can afford these tickets. And, you know, I had to remind them that this is a fundraiser, we’re here to raise the funds to be able to continue to run the agency to be able to serve the community … honestly, we’re here to raise money.”

Li is a wildly talented photographer and founder/principal of his company, The Tony Li Project. He got involved with Tulsa CARES about 10 years ago; he’d begun wading into the philanthropic scene in Tulsa, helping events with branding. One of those was Red Ribbon. “That’s when I kind of got my foot in the door with Red Ribbon and Tulsa CARES,” Li says.

Burroughs, a master hair stylist and makeup artist, has been lending her considerable talent, and that of her peers, to such excellent causes as Tulsa’s Pink Ribbon Gala to help fund breast cancer screenings. She’s been a part of the event’s fashion show for 14 years and, for the past eight or so, she and her glam squad have served as the official hair and makeup team for the event. Burroughs downplays her involvement, if you ask Li. This dynamic duo is humble about their philanthropic work. And Tulsa CARES struck a chord for both.

HIV/AIDS care has always resonated with Li, who remembers being moved as a child by the story of another little boy, Ryan White, who contracted the disease — at that time fatal — via a blood transfusion. “He was a kid around my age. And it made me think, you know, this can really affect anybody. Since then, it’s been really important for me to get involved with this particular cause.”

For Burroughs, giving back is a family value. “We both come from immigrant families and, you know, there’s this, this drive that we all should make a difference.” Her family, she says, “always reminds me that there’s much more to that than just making money and being successful.” Aside from that, Burroughs says, “Helping people just, well, first off, it feels good. And knowing that I can dedicate my time or if I have something to give, I can give it to somebody else that may not have it, or maybe they’re just needing it at that very moment. And I can help them. That really resonated with me.”

Burroughs went to Thailand this year. “I went to visit family I’ve never met and I got to see where my dad grew up and the conditions he lived in, small huts that had no electricity and no running water. That was very eye-opening and humbling.” Also eye-opening? “I noticed, as I was there, that every corner had some form of a clinic, that people could just walk in off the street, and were able to get tested and treated, and whatever needs that they needed for HIV AIDS, Hepatitis C, other sexually transmitted diseases.” She found it refreshing and inspirational to see the stigma removed, and care given to anyone who needs it.

Photos by McKenzie Ashton

These two young, first-gen Americans felt it was very serendipitous that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon in the lunar zodiac, and knew they could create something spectacular around that theme. “The Year of the Dragon is supposed to be one of the most auspicious years,” Li says. “And so that felt good. I’m also obsessed with the movie Crazy Rich Asians. Shawna and I are both very visual people. And so we’re trying to create a visually spectacular evening that people are going to remember and, and have a great time at.”

They’re planning for an evening full of surprises, and prying any of those out of them was a non-starter, almost. Luxiere has been cleared to offer these tantalizing details: there’s a DJ coming in from Los Angeles. Li and Burroughs are each planning multiple outfit changes throughout the evening.

Bottom line, if you can get your hands on a ticket, do it. This is going to be one for the ages. •

The Luxiere List: Tulsa Cares

Red Ribbon Gala serves as the largest fundraiser annually for Tulsa CARES.

Its 2024 theme, “Year of the Dragon,” was inspired in part by the co-chairs’ Asian heritage and Li’s obsession (his word) with the Kevin Kwan book and movie franchise, Crazy Rich Asians.

Tulsa CARES serves 23 counties in northeast Oklahoma, where there are approximately 3,000 people living with HIV.

Oklahoma is one of seven states with the highest infection rate of HIV among rural communities. 

The medical program at Tulsa CARES includes an HIV specialist physician. Clients can visit in person or via telehealth. There’s also a full-time medical assistant on the team who helps coordinate each individual’s care.

Oklahoma’s Hepatitis C prevalence is also among the highest in the nation.

Tulsa CARES offers wrap-around services for people living with Hepatitis C including education, medication assistance, education, food and nutrition and transportation assistance.

The Tulsa CARE Hepatitis C effort is supported with funding from Tulsa’s Ascension St. John Medical Center. 

The 2024 Red Ribbon Gala is March 16 at Tulsa’s Cox Business Convention Center. Visit redribbongala.org for details and tickets.