Our Leadership
Our Executive Director: Noel Jacobs, PhD
Dr. Jacobs is Executive Director for the Respect Diversity Foundation (RDF) and past President of The Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma. He has more than ten years’ experience working to make education, training, healthcare and clinical practice more inclusive, equitable and diversity focused. A strong proponent of community building, he gives his free time to promote well-being and celebration of diversity by connecting OKC residents of different backgrounds to each other. He believes strongly in the importance and power of positive direct human encounter with the ‘other,’ through interfaith, intercultural and interracial experiences. Most importantly, he is husband to Anne, his remarkable wife of 26 years, and father to two extraordinary young adults, Felix and Keegan.
Dr. Jacobs has spoken to community organizations and students of all ages since 2005 on topics such as preventing bullying and building a positive social climate, developing self-understanding and cultural humility, broadening intercultural exposure, and developing engaged ways of being with others in the community. In his roles with RDF, he leads film events and community discussions, along with co-hosting a podcast entitled “The Elephant In The Room: Unboxed” with Thick Descriptions, an RDF partner organization.
A lifelong Oklahoman, Dr. Jacobs completed his doctoral training in clinical child psychology at the University of Kansas in 2001, then returned to Oklahoma City in 2003 as a clinical health service psychologist and Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at Oklahoma City University. He has 19 years’ experience in licensed practice and 21 years in undergraduate and graduate teaching. His research interests are in the areas of health-related quality of life, multidimensional well-being, adolescent-to-young-adult transition, and self-management with chronic illness.
Our Co-founders: Michael (“Mike”) and Joan Korenblit
Both Michael “Mike” and Joan Korenblit serve as role models of nonprofit activism, integrity, advocacy, and generosity. As such, they have won numerous awards and have become two of the Oklahoma City metro’s most admired citizens.
Mike is a bestselling author of Until We Meet Again (Miracle Press 2001), speaker and former public school educator, as well as the executive producer of educational documentaries and an award-winning public affairs series on CSPAN. He provides engaged, “hands-on” leadership for the organization, even as he shares the lessons of the Holocaust and their relevance today. He has devoted his energies to founding and leading RDF and taking the story of his parents to audiences most likely to affect change in their communities and the world – especially schools. Through his presentation, the story becomes a fulcrum for highly salient issues, such as bullying (student or workplace), interfaith understanding, civic engagement, social activism, social justice, and others. For the last two decades, hundreds of schools, faith and community groups, agencies, businesses, and corporations throughout Oklahoma and the nation have invited him to give talks and lead workshops – reporting meaningful transformations in their organizational cultures after his presentations.
Joan has authored several cookbooks and teachers’ guides. She is a poet and teaching artist/workshop leader, guiding scores of students to write poetry published in magazines, newspapers, and books. Since co-founding RDF, Joan has nurtured close, working relationships with educators, schools, and leaders throughout Oklahoma. Her work has brought national attention to our state’s growing appreciation of the values of tolerance and respect for all. A compelling speaker and workshop leader in her own right, Joan has focused on developing the arts-integration aspect of RDF’s work, believing that it is crucial to solidifying and amplifying the transformations resulting from the efforts of all of RDF’s speakers and artists.
Mike and Joan have dedicated their lives to the work of RDF, running it out of their home and striving daily to ensure that donors’ investments are managed to ensure optimal cost-effectiveness (“doing well by dealing prudently”). Under their conscientious direction, administrative costs are minimized, and 75% of RDF’s budget is directly dedicated to evidence-based programming, with only a small percentage of the remaining 25% invested in fundraising.
