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After working for the bulk of his career traveling the world for various tech startups, Noah landed back in Tulsa in search of a better quality of life.
After working for the bulk of his career traveling the world for various tech startups, Noah landed back in Tulsa in search of a better quality of life. He’s brought his love for the community, the environment, and people together in his development role at Tulsa’s urban forestry nonprofit organization, Up With Trees.
How did you land in Tulsa?
I’m originally from Idaho. My family moved here when I was in junior high. I went to high school and college in Oklahoma, and then went to work for Apple right out of college and then lived everywhere but Tulsa. I came back to Tulsa in 2005. And I've been here ever since.
What led you to your new role?
I’ve managed startups for over 30 years. In January 2023, I retired from that work. I was working on my last venture out in Berkeley, California, and it’s a beautiful place with wonderful people. But I was done with tech startups, so I came back to Tulsa and took a year off to teach AP Language at Booker T. Washington, which was a blast. Then I heard from inTulsa about a role at Up With Trees. They asked if I was interested. I said, “Yes, tell me more.”
What was it like working with the inTulsa team?
I'm going to brag on Krista. We had a very candid conversation about how I wanted to find an organization that I'm really aligned with, and how that might mean I’m not working with one for a long time. I would say I was very picky. I said, “You're probably not going to find anything for me, but I'm really passionate about the environment, and I spent my whole career in tech.” I was laying out this picture, and she listened. She’s a great listener. She said, “There's an organization called Up With Trees, and they have a development role. We've been working with them. Look into it.”
Throughout the process, she and I really had a genuine partnership. Krista asked, “How did the first interview go? Any concerns?” She called me, texted, sent emails asking, “Hey, have you thought about this? Check this out.” It was awesome. And after I got the opportunity, she still checked in to ask, “How's it going? What are you working on?” I'm a friend now. She's a friend.
When you feel like you've aged out of what you've done, and you don't want to do it anymore, I know a lot of people just kind of give up or quietly volunteer somewhere. And here I am having a blast, absolutely loving what I'm doing. And I give a lot of the credit to inTulsa.
What’s a typical day in your role like?
My development role is similar to most nonprofits, where you're responsible for developing relationships with people who can sustain the organization, whether that's foundations, donors, individuals, volunteers, and so on. The nuance here is that Up With Trees has been around for 48 years. We’ve started thinking about writing a 50-year strategic development plan for how this organization moves into the future and sustains itself. So, in addition to handling traditional fundraising efforts, I'm spending probably half of my time looking at partnerships and other unique projects that would really give us something big to grow into. That's where I'm tapping into some of my tech experience, which is all about pulling people together to build something new. A big chunk of my time is looking at ways to have the next generation pick up the torch.
What do you like best about your role?
I have a four and a half block commute, so it's really been a quality of life job. This is a situation where I am literally in the neighborhood, hanging out with some really wonderful people, talking about trees. I love the mission. Urban forestry is a massive growth industry that all countries are investing in. This is a good use of my gifts, a good use of my time, but the top of the list was quality of life. I’m not getting on a plane, not working around the clock. I've spent a big chunk of my career working with people in 33 different countries, working all night, and I was so done with that. Now, I get to go home and go to my kid’s baseball game.
What do you enjoy most about living in Tulsa?
I love to cook. I love to read. I love to go outside to the Gathering Place; it’s so beautiful. As far as restaurant culture, I just found this hole in the wall place, so amazing, called Prism Cafe. The owner has an interesting story. She came here during COVID. She's a chef who fell in love with Tulsa and opened up this little restaurant. And she's killing it right now. She grows a large percentage of her produce, so it’s super fresh, super tasty. That's my newest discovery. I think Tulsa has a ridiculous food and music scene. If you’re not finding it, you're not looking hard enough, because there's a lot of really cool stuff to do.
What would you tell people who are thinking about moving here?
Once people get to Tulsa, they realize that culturally we value community. We value family and friends. I'm not saying other communities don't, and there are companies everywhere that have a burnout culture. But I would not say that’s pervasive in Tulsa. Work-life balance isn't just a Millennials thing. If you're still working, you're thinking about work-life balance, whether that’s having grandkids or taking care of an aging parent. I can’t imagine having to deal with issues that my parents are dealing with and not being local, so being here is great.
