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.