Dr. Valerie Thompson is the CEO of Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City, Inc., which celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. Thompson came to the agency in 1993, and was initially selected to serve as director of its Minority Business Development Center, although she wasn’t sure about abandoning her blossoming finance career to work in the nonprofit sector. “I cut my teeth in corporate America, which is really different from nonprofits. I started out in banking, and then moved into oil and gas,” she says. “I got my MBA as a financial analyst.” Thompson also holds a Ph.D. in political science.

She eventually took the job, in part because her husband, Warren, pointed out that heading up the Minority Business Development Center — which had been created with a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce — most certainly was a position in the finance sector, and one that would change lives. Thompson took the position, and served in that role until 1999, when she was elevated to the CEO position. Her game plan was to spend five years at Urban League. That was 29 years ago.

Turns out, she was made for this job, which is actually more of a calling. To understand why, it’s important to understand her family history. She’s forever humbled by her parents’ constant support and dedication to education, and feels every step she takes is guided by God. “I'm very grateful that my family was able to provide me the opportunity to go to college. I went to OSU for my undergrad; I majored in business marketing. And then I went to OU for my MBA and Ph.D.” Her mother, an accomplished Hidden Figures-level mathematician, began as a typist with the FAA, but moved into accounting and by the pinnacle of her career was responsible for paying the entire United States Coast Guard, doing the calculations by hand.  

That tight-knit family support also got Thompson through her formative, if traumatic, elementary education — which she now realizes lit a spark in her that still burns bright, driving her efforts to serve the community.

“I was a product of busing,” she says. She attended her neighborhood elementary school for kindergarten through second grade, but for third grade she was uprooted and bused to Prairie Queen Elementary at SW 66th and Blackwelder Ave. “If you can imagine me, an eight-year-old on the bus, not knowing where I’m going to go. It was horrible for me, and for my parents.”

Third and fourth grade were spent at Prairie Queen, but then for fifth grade she was bused back to her neighborhood school; for sixth it was back to Prairie Queen.

“Then my parents said, ‘Enough is enough.’” They moved to Del City, and Thompson attended Mid-Del schools through high school. “I would say I was two grades behind from where [I was] when I went from Oklahoma City Public Schools to Mid-Del schools,” she says. The educational disparity was undeniable. “Having the opportunity to really get a good high school and middle school experience gave me opportunities,” she says, “so I feel very blessed that I'm able to share my skills, my education, my talent experiences with the African-American community … I just feel a real need to be able to help people get better jobs, and help people have affordable housing. That's where my passion has come from.”

Thompson met Warren, now a counselor, at Oklahoma State University. It was a classic college romance: He was a football player and she was one of the first Black women on the pom squad. Their daughter, Maya, 25, is an architect and classical pianist. You can literally hear Thompson smile when she talks about Maya, and how she’s taken the best from both parents to become the impressive young woman she is.

Intellectual curiosity runs in the family. Thompson’s own curious nature is a big part of her success and willingness to tackle new initiatives. Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City initiatives address education, housing, health and wellness, social justice, early childhood learning, employment, voter education and registration, financial literacy and family development.

Thompson says without her incredible team, such comprehensive service would be impossible. “I work with a remarkable group of people. Two ladies on my senior team have been with me for 25-plus years, which is kind of remarkable in the nonprofit sector. Almost half of my staff have master's degrees. They're very [?] and they're passionate. And the reason why I love the Urban League so much is because we're able to make such a significant impact on the city.

“Someone said, ‘Why did you guys do so much?’ And the answer is because the need is there.”