Oklahoma Route 66 Association President Rhys Martin announced this week that Julie Akers has been hired as the organization’s new executive director.
Akers replaces longtime executive director Marilyn Emde, who retired in 2022 after almost 20 years at the helm.
Martin stated in a news release:
She brings more than a decade of experience working for non-profits in Oklahoma and she is very excited to plug-in to our organization. […]
For nearly two years, I have been balancing the responsibilities of President as well as Executive Director. I am very happy to have Julie’s help with the day-to-day operations of the Association, which includes our main email account and office, running our quarterly meetings, managing our membership database, helping execute the Board’s vision, and generally making sure we’re being compliant with all of our 501c3 obligations. Her role is vitally important to the health of our organization; please give her a hearty Mother Road welcome!
I’ll still be just as engaged with the Oklahoma Route 66 Community as I have been. In fact, this will free me up a bit to work more on Centennial initiatives and a few other projects in the pipeline. Stay tuned!
After Emde stepped down, the association this spring moved from Chandler, Oklahoma, to a new office at 2620 E. 11th St. (aka Route 66) in Tulsa.
(Image of Julie Akers courtesy of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association)