Twenty years ago, OU alumna Cinthya Allen drove past the “Welcome to Norman” sign on Flood Avenue for the first time as a resident. For Allen, the sign symbolizes inclusivity — a trait she believes defines her community.
Norman’s nuanced history with diversity is apparent in its history as a ‘sundown town’ — which city councilors officially apologized for in 2020. A town that once excluded Black people from its residence now recognizes a Hispanic woman — and native of Chihuahua, Mexico — in a leadership position.
In its most recent meeting, the Norman City Council introduced Allen as Norman’s first chief diversity and equity officer — a position established in parallel to the City of Oklahoma City — charging her with molding Norman into the “inclusive city that we say we are,” she said.
Allen first earned experience in diversity and equity through over a decade of work at AT&T’s Oklahoma City branch. She said she operated under various titles, including area manager of external affairs, where she oversaw diversity and inclusion programs.
“I was able to … grow employee engagement, employee resource groups, diversity and inclusion practices locally, at a national level (and) globally,” Allen said. “It's just amazing to me — the power of energy — when we were able to get our employees to come together around an idea to program a vision (and) how we were able to move the needle.”
Corporate experience shaped Allen’s understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion, she said, empowering her to observe how the broad terms individually touch people. She said she learned the importance of expanding communication, engaging in cultural understanding and acting with integrity.
“We want to make sure that everyone feels like they can raise their hand, that they'll be heard and that they have an opportunity to join whatever engagement or opportunities there are,” Allen said. “(Each term) is broad, but they are also unique. You do need each of these elements to work for each other and together.”
In June 2020, Mayor Breea Clark requested Norman City Manager Darryl Pyle hire a diversity and equity officer despite an “unprecedented budget crisis.” When the City of Norman announced this new function of its government, Allen said she recognized the rare opportunity and felt called to contribute her expertise.
“It’s those opportunities that are sometimes few, where there’s a situation that you can … serve and help make a difference,” Allen said. “When I saw this, I knew I had to go for it and do my best to serve the community which I've called home and which my family calls home.”
Expanding accessibility is one of the first things on Allen’s agenda, she said.
According to U.S. Census records from 2018, 5.6 percent of Norman's population speaks Spanish. Allen said she hopes to apply her knowledge of the language, bridging communication barriers between the city and its Spanish-speaking community.
“Just this Wednesday, we had a vaccine center activity going on at the City of Norman, and there was some Spanish-speaking need,” Allen said. “I happened to be there and was able to translate for one of our citizens. It was really special to be able to fill in the gap and to jump in and ensure that person felt informed and safe.”
Allen also said she wants to use her role to focus on one of her passion points — youth engagement.
Throughout her career, Allen has worked closely with young adults, engaging university students as OU’s former director of corporate relations and mentoring Hispanic youth as the president of HACEMOS, AT&T’s Hispanic and Latino employee resource group. She said she is excited to build relationships with OU and Norman’s K-12 students.
“We have a wonderful community and family at OU, and … in just engaging (with) our students, (I know) they want to be part of not just the OU community, but Norman as a whole, our state and so forth,” Allen said. “I am excited to work with Belinda Hyppolite and David Surratt and be able to create lines of communication for opportunities.”
Although a large portion of the position concentrates on expanding diversity, Allen said she also sees an opportunity to mend some of the political division Norman experienced in the past year.
The city became politically divided through council recall efforts, contention surrounding an $865,000 cut to a proposed increase in the police department’s budget June 16, racial justice rallies and challenges to city government from the Fraternal Order of the Police on charges of violating Oklahoma’s Open Meetings Act and Unite Norman against city mask mandates.
Allen said her position has become even more necessary amid this division, and she hopes to inspire strength in the community.
“You know we see it almost every day, where there is a divisive situation,” Allen said. “What I’ll say is that to counter division, we need to elevate understanding. I hope to really be able to engage different parts of our communities that are looking for that understanding and create a safe space for any entity, any community member (and) any citizen to feel heard.”
Looking back on her residency in Norman, Allen said she has observed immense growth in the realm of diversity and inclusion. She said she had the opportunity to watch her hometown become increasingly proactive in encouraging understanding among its residents.
“I’m really proud that now, here we are in 2021 (and) our city council, mayor and city manager have been responsive to recognizing the needs we have,” Allen said. “(They are) creating strong pipelines for future talent, for incoming economic growth and just to be able to be seen as a city that gets it right.”
Allen said entities like OU, Norman Public Schools and the Norman Regional Hospital already touch an abundance of lives. She said Norman could potentially impact communities on a larger scale by partnering its entities with those of neighboring cities.
“I think that it's important that we recognize it's not about the size of our city or our role — it's about the output in the end,” Allen said. “We want to shoot high to draw significant results in inclusion and equity. … And whatever we do here will be seen by our neighbors, whether that's in the city of Moore, Oklahoma City down the road, Dallas, etc.”
A position without precedent accompanies endless possibilities. Allen said she recognizes the power that comes with this role and she looks forward to using this “blank slate” to create continuous change.
“If there were previous processes or ways established, then it's kind of easier to jump in,” Allen said. “But I definitely recognize the responsibility that's been trusted to me, and I'm thankful for it. … It's not an initiative, it's not a project — it's a sustainable element of our organization. It's an opportunity where we want to scale, so I feel that we're going to do some really good things moving forward together.”
As Allen drives past the “Welcome to Norman” sign 20 years later, she said she now thinks of her three daughters — one who is 15, and twins who are seven years old. Every day, she said she tries to instill in her daughters the values she gained through her work in diversity, emphasizing “service over self” and welcoming the ideals of other cultures.
“One of my youngest daughters came home from school one day, and I guess they learned about what Kwanzaa is. She was so excited and asked if we could celebrate Kwanzaa,” Allen said. “So this year, we celebrated Kwanzaa for the first time, and it was the coolest thing ever that we were able to learn together. … I was just so proud they were interested in doing something outside of our regular norms. I hope they are picking up on being a little bit more open to understanding others.”
Allen said she encourages young people to expand their horizons, as growth and unbelievable opportunities could come from anywhere.
“Be ready to raise your hand, take challenges and enjoy the ride,” Allen said. “We're really being prepared every day because I look back on all of the pieces of my career within AT&T and my community engagement locally, and I think it has all come together for this opportunity today.”
