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Commerce & Industry Hall of Honor Announces New Inductees

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Oklahoma City University’s Meinders School of Business will honor four business and community leaders during the 33rd annual Oklahoma Commerce & Industry Hall of Honor luncheon Oct. 31 at the Cox Convention Center downtown.

The 2019 inductees are Mo Anderson, CEO of Keller Williams, with the Chairman's Award; Jim Couch, former city manager of the City of Oklahoma City, with the Outstanding Achievement Award; Tricia Everest, attorney, philanthropist and entrepreneur, with the Lifetime Achievement Award; and Dan Boren, president of corporate development for the Chickasaw Nation, with the President’s Award.

The Oklahoma Commerce & Industry Hall of Honor luncheon is the premier event benefitting the Meinders School of Business scholarship program.

Melissa Cory, director of communications and director of executive and professional education, called the event an “opportunity to celebrate visionaries, leaders and role models for our students, who are the next generation of business and community leaders. We are thrilled to honor leaders who have made significant contributions to our state and region through their dedication and support to our community.”

Corporate sponsorships and individual tickets are available. For more information or to make a reservation to attend, contact Cory at 405-208-5540 or [email protected]. Registration is also available online on the Hall of Honor page at okcu.edu/hallofhonor.

More information about the honorees:

Mo Anderson, Chairman's Award

The youngest of five, born to tenant farmers in rural Oklahoma, Mo Anderson was the first in her family to earn a college degree. She taught music in public schools before entering the world of real estate. Her first Century 21 franchise quickly rose to the third-highest producing out of 7,500 locations in North America. She served on the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission, including two terms as chairman.

She convinced Keller Williams Realty co-founder Gary Keller to expand his franchise company outside of Texas. Anderson became the regional owner for Keller Williams Realty Oklahoma. In 1995, she became the first CEO and co-owner of Keller Williams Realty International. The company is now the number-one real estate franchise company in the world in size, units and volume. She currently serves as vice chairman of the board. Deemed one of America’s top 25 Influential Thought Leaders by REALTOR magazine and one of Real Estates Most Influential People, Anderson continues to cultivate the firm’s culture, inspiring 189,000 agents in 32 countries to maintain high standards of character.

She is the author of “A Joy-filled Life: “Lessons from a Tenant Farmer’s Daughter Who Became a CEO,” and launched MoAnderson.com, an online mentoring community.

Anderson is proud of her philanthropic giving record. Her local community, charitable organizations and ministries around the world have been performed in her belief that the higher purpose of business is to give, care and share.

Jim Couch, Outstanding Achievement Award

Jim D. Couch was appointed city manager of the City of Oklahoma City on Nov. 9, 2000. There he served as the chief administrative officer of the city, responsible for the management and day-to-day operation of city government, which had nearly 4,300 employees and a total budget of $900 million.

Couch served on several city-related boards and agencies including the Oklahoma City Airport Trust, Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust, Oklahoma City Zoological Trust and the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority. Also, Couch served as general manager of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area School Trust, overseeing a half-billion-dollar construction program; general manager of the Oklahoma City Riverfront Redevelopment Authority; and the Oklahoma City Economic Development Trust.

Couch has served on the Downtown Oklahoma City Board of Directors, Oklahoma Fair Board, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is an ex officio member of the Oklahoma Health Center Foundation. In 2007, he was elected to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials.

Prior to his appointment as city manager, Couch served as assistant city manager/MAPS director for 2 ½ years and water/wastewater utilities director for 11 years. In those capacities he served as the general manager of both the Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust and the McGee Creek Authority, and was responsible for the Water/Wastewater Utilities budget of $100 million annually, as well as the $390 million Metropolitan Area Projects capital construction program.

Previously, Couch held positions as the assistant city manager for the City of Edmond; public works director for the City of Casper, Wyoming; and, office director for Buell, Winter, Mousel and Associates, Consulting Engineers – Omaha, Nebraska; Sioux City, Iowa; and Casper, Wyoming. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and is a licensed professional engineer in the states of Oklahoma and Colorado.

Tricia Everest, Lifetime Achievement Award

A fourth-generation Oklahoman, Tricia Louise Everest is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Everest served as assistant attorney general for the State of Oklahoma before taking a leave of absence to pursue service-oriented projects and posts.

Since that time, Everest has worked with community leaders in the fields of criminal justice, mental health and the arts to create pathways for children to overcome trauma and adverse childhood experiences. Her focus is to provide men and women the tools to pave new roads for their children absent of abuse, poor health, poverty, incarceration or addiction.

For her service and dedication, Everest has been named Volunteer of the Year for the YMCA and YWCA, Compassionate Citizen of the Year by the Oklahoma Foundation for the Disabled, and the John and Berta Faye Rex Community Builder Honoree by United Way of Central Oklahoma.

Current engagement includes chairing Palomar, a group of service-oriented agencies; chair emeritus of ReMerge, a comprehensive female diversion program; and service on the Access to Justice Commission, charged with developing and implementing policies that make quality legal justice available for low-income Oklahomans. Everest lives in Oklahoma City.

Dan Boren, President’s Award

Dan Boren is the president of corporate development for the Chickasaw Nation. Based in Oklahoma, Boren helps to drive the Chickasaw Nation’s business diversification strategy. In his capacity, he serves on numerous boards that cut across the technology, health, financial services and energy sectors.

Before joining the Chickasaw Nation, Boren represented Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for four terms before retiring in 2013.

While in Congress, Boren played a leadership role on Native American issues, serving as the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Indian Affairs. Boren helped shape key national economic recovery policies as a member of the House Financial Services Committee. He also served on the House Armed Services Committee and House Select Committee on Intelligence and earned a reputation for being able to work with members of both parties to pass laws that strengthened U.S. defense and national security.

Before election to Congress in 2004, Boren served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and was the first freshman state lawmaker ever to be elected as caucus chairman.

Boren continues to find ways to contribute to his community. He currently serves on the boards of the Jasmine Moran Children’s Museum, National Rifle Association, Seminole State College Educational Foundation, OU Children’s Hospital Foundation, IBC Bank, Canterbury Voices, Oklahoma Academy, OKC Boathouse Foundation, Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, Sovereign Asset Management (as chairman), Walnut Creek Property Investments, the Last Frontier Council (Boy Scouts of America), the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, Stella Nova, Swift MD and Soldier Strong. Boren is also a Rodel and Hunt Kean Fellow and a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma Class 17.

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