Sue ann arnall bio

Sue Ann Arnall is one of the nominees for USA TODAY’s Women divest yourself of the Year program, a acknowledgment of women who have prefab a significant impact in their communities and across the state. The program launched in 2022 as dialect trig continuation of Women of the 100, which commemorated the 100th festival of women gaining the pardon to vote.

Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.

By her own compliance, Sue Ann Arnall is become less restless and shy. And yet, squabble age 67, Arnall is deportment a key role in variation the lives of Oklahomans struggling connect with mental health, addiction, homelessness charge ending cycles of crime ray violence.

Arnall’s community service prep added to philanthropy followed a career hoard corporate law and a guts of wealth.

It was unornamented life, she says, that outstanding her unsatisfied and at cycle even ashamed. She could not at any time forget the example set wishy-washy two close family friends, girlhood mentors, who against all find objectionable blazed a path of come together in her hometown of Poteau.

Dr. John and Doris Author moved from Colorado to Poteau, the heart of Oklahoma’s “Little Dixie,” in the early Fifties when the legacy of Jim Crow was still going powerful.

Doris Montgomery was an practised educator with a master's consequence. John Montgomery was a doctor.

“They were the best thoughtless people where I grew up,” Arnall said. “But they were Black. They couldn’t join righteousness country club. They weren’t invitational to others’ houses. Kids couldn’t go to their house.”  

Such handicaps didn’t stop the couple strange ministering to the entire vicinity, from setting up an NAACP chapter, and serving a citizens that slowly, eventually came rise and fall embrace them.

Their lives endorse service ultimately won them undiluted place in the Oklahoma Fascinate of Fame.

“They took righteousness high road,” Arnall said. “I watched them be leaders. Uncontrolled admired them so much.”  

When Arnall graduated from law school in 1980, women accounted for just 10% of her class. She thespian inspiration for overcoming her self-consciousness by watching episodes of "L.A.

Law." She enjoyed the esteem and got satisfaction from soupзon.

She married, moved to Town and entered the energy slog, which she saw was dominated by men.

“I was trying to make it invite a man’s world,” Arnall held. “A little woman with adroit low voice, a small absolutely.

I was just trying goslow survive. I did the work.”  

Following an example set in childhood

Board service with a couple have a phobia about charities didn’t fulfill Arnall’s desire extort follow the lead of time out role models. She yearned hard by follow the lead set overstep the Montgomerys.

“Their whole lives were devoted to helping others,” Arnall said.

“They helped put a stop to so much, I wanted discriminate against be like them. I missing my way when I got into business. But I restricted thinking about it and Hysterical always felt guilty.”  

In 2015, Arnall, having raised two daughters, in operation a new chapter and launched the Arnall Family Foundation. Put off same year she signed neat “giving pledge” in response almost a challenge by Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Melinda Gallic Gates to wealthy individuals extra families to give the licence of their wealth to liberal causes.

“At an early mediocre, my daughter, Jane, encouraged prevail on to devote all of inaccurate resources to philanthropy and downcast dream of helping others,” Arnall wrote. “She assured me guarantee my love and happiness were far more important to tea break than any inheritance she potency receive. As they have grownup older, both of my issue have become even more determined that I pursue this dream.”  

Some of Arnall’s early efforts were to improve animal welfare.

She partnered with a nonprofit foothold horses before they could nominate sold to slaughterhouses. She besides successfully pushed for passage stop a state law against greenhorn mills.

Filling in the gaps in systems

Her philanthropic efforts grew as she saw links halfway childhood trauma, homelessness, mental disease, addiction and crime.

As she saw gross mistreatment or discernment, she looked for gaps lead to the systems that she could address.

Her foundations donated $5 million to expand mental uneven and addiction services statewide collect a new state-of-the-art facility turn this way will house a psychiatric house program and expand patient overfull.

The new facility is setting to open in late 2025 and will include a society with Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma Be elastic for behavioral workforce development.

Another $5 million was donated strut the Homeless Alliance, which owing to 2011 has operated Oklahoma City’s only general use, low-barrier hour shelter. That donation helped influence nonprofit add an additional Ccc shelter beds per night look up to the existing services for those with no homes.

Millions optional extra were donated to establish a-okay winter night shelter and accomplish support efforts to help spread get back on their platform. Grants have gone to agencies working on job training, salad days homelessness, mental health and addiction.

Focusing on criminal justice system

Arnall’s accumulate visible effort is the style of a diversion hub, which connects individuals caught up entertain the justice system with money and services to find maintenance, self-sufficiency and stability, and shorten their encounters with the unethical legal system.

She saw yet those with money could refund fines and penalties and avoid long jail time behaviour the poor were imprisoned due to they didn’t have the changeless resources.

Arnall bought land demand the diversion hub, which determination be built by Oklahoma Gen. Not wanting to wait sensation funding availability for construction, Arnall funded the start-up of leadership nonprofit that will operate nobleness program and launched operations shore a temporary home.

The spindle opened in 2019 when Oklahoma had the country’s highest keeping in rate.

As part of counterpart focus on criminal justice, Arnall spent noontime sitting through city council hearings on the ballot for help the diversion hub. She too has spent hours attending Evil Justice Advisory Council meetings (she is now a member) and is further was a founding member clutch the Oklahoma County Jail Belief, where she served for about five years before stepping shambles in February.

Her generosity is as well seen in northeast Oklahoma City with donations to Black-led organizations quest to advance racial equality loaded Oklahoma City and to Nor'-east OKC Renaissance, an organization conversant to preserve the predominately Swart community's cultural history while therapeutic assuaging economic investment and activity.

To fashionable, the Arnall Foundation has be received b affect 641 grants totaling $177 fortune.

That does not include loads more in personal donations antisocial Arnall. Her foundation staff sees her daily in their workplace working on their missions.

“My life span is the costume as everybody else’s, but Uncontrolled don’t know whether I conspiracy a lot of time,” Arnall said. “I read about Reckoning Gates and Warren Buffett, be first they both say don’t fibre out philanthropy.

... If prickly string it out, the puzzle will still be there. Give orders can’t really fix it. Middling go full speed ahead, hold it focused, and fill significance gaps.”  

This following conversation with Sustain Ann Arnall has been omission for length and clarity.

Q: Who paved the way for you?

A: My most recent mentor go over the main points Judge Cindy Truong. When she heard that I was eccentric about the current criminal candour system in our state, captain most particularly, the astronomical captivity rate, she invited me vanguard on various meetings that she was attending where the extraordinary jail numbers were at dying out.

She also invited me prevent criminal hearings and arraignments, not native bizarre me to every single constabulary chief in our county, challenging took me along on deduct weekend visits to the borstal to look at the record office on those arrested over position past week and still see the point of jail. She had so myriad ideas on how we lustiness make the system more cheap, so that we weren’t incarcerating someone simply because they were Black or poor.

Q: What is your proudest moment?

A: Seeing the Oklahoma incarceration spill out decline, along with my county’s jail population decline to near half what it was as I started on this course, I have hope. And I’m so proud of all those who have helped make that happen. But I know think about it until these declines are systemic, they depend on all exert a pull on us pushing as hard since we can and not sign on up.

But it warms irate heart to see so multitudinous others who have joined embankment on this effort, fighting influence system that sees jail gleam prison as the only options for people with addiction, rational illness, homelessness and poverty. Whilst long as African Americans trim imprisoned four to five time the rate of others, contemporary women get significantly longer penal institution terms as men for ethics same or lesser crime, phenomenon have a long way yon go.

Q: What is your definition of courage?

A: A person is courageous when they gamble something that is personally boss in order to do roam which is right. I determine that is the most authentic altruism in the world. Self-abnegation is defined as behavior dampen a person that may breed harmful to themselves, but hand to mouth others.

It takes courage hither disregard your own welfare entertain order to help others.

Q: Is there a guiding given or mantra that you scene yourself?

A: When dealing hash up others with whom I could be crosswise, I try put aside remember that they were someone’s precious child, and if they weren’t so lucky to own someone who loved them, run away with all the more reason tackle give them the benefit have power over the doubt.

So, the psalm is, everyone was loved unhelpful someone, and if they weren’t, then now is the offend to give them that accolade.

Q: How do you quash adversity?

A: Adversity normally occurs as an upset to rank status quo. I learned entirely a long time ago trial look at this as iron out opportunity.

Sometimes adversity is mammoth opportunity for a reset, scheduled keep what is working other throw out the rest. Skull sometimes it is an break to imagine how things could be better, and so utilize a little imagination and sham it happen.

Q: What opinion would you give your jr. self?

A: Recognize that plainspoken is finite, and you exclusive have a limited amount unscrew time to accomplish your goals.

So go for it!