[No Audio:  OAALA: Oklahoma Aging Advocacy Leadership Academy]
[No Audio:  Lance Robertson, Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Aging; 
Administrator, Administration for Community Living]
Lance Robertson: The Oklahoma Aging Advocacy Leadership Academy has really been a 
keystone program in Oklahoma for the last two decades, helping individuals who are interested 
in advocating on behalf of issues that they feel are important. 
[No Audio: OAALA provides free training for individuals to become volunteer community 
leaders and advocates for Oklahoma’s aging population.]
Lance Robertson: The key focus of course is aging, but I think it’s been expanded now to include 
issues involving disability, or anything else that might impact the community, and certainly 
participants are welcome to kind of pick a project that they think will make a difference 
ultimately. 
 [No Audio: OAALA applicants should demonstrate a willingness to use constructive advocacy 
techniques to effect social change and a commitment to build communities that value all older 
people and people with disabilities.]
[No Audio: Judy Leitner, OAALA Coordinator and Co-Founder]
Judy Leitner: I believe in that patchwork quilt approach, that nobody knows everything, and if 
you can get as many different viewpoints and perspectives and experiential bases tackling a 
single problem, you can come up with a much better solution that is people-friendly. And, 
that’s why we are here, to empower people to advocate for themselves, or for their family 
member, or help people just be more confident about how to speak up. And, I think we’ve 
made some pretty amazing tracks over the years. 
[No Audio: The 10-month training course meets monthly on Friday evenings and Saturdays at 
Aging Services offices in Oklahoma City.]
[No Audio:  D. Pearl Barnett, Programs Administrator, Medicaid Services Unit, Aging Services 
Division, OAALA Graduate]
D. Pearl Barnett: So, I think OAALA means so many things to so many people. Whether or not 
you work in the aging network, you have interest, you volunteer, or are a caregiver to a loved 
one, you should really consider this program because you will be opened up to so many 
resources that you will be able to implement in whatever work that you do, or whatever care 
that you are providing to your loved one. 

Lance Robertson: There is a process involved, if you want to effectively advocate for change. 
And, programs like the OAALA really teach individuals what that means. 
[No Audio: Lance Robertson is a former Director of Aging Services for DHS and an OAALA 
graduate.]
Lance Robertson: What does it mean to build relationships, to focus in on the key issues, to 
become very knowledgeable about that issue, to get in touch with the right folks who can 
influence and make change, and how throughout that entire process you can do it in a way that 
is dignified, encouraging, positive, but not just be so vacillated on maybe a negative issue? 
Really, at the end of the day, it’s a precious formula. If you do it well, then you can be an 
advocate for change. 
[No Audio:  OAALA is sponsored by DHS and funded by generous contributions from 
organizations including: Areawide Aging Agency, The Choctaw Nation, Oklahoma 
Developmental Disabilities Council]
[No Audio: Sister Maria of the Trinity, Gospel of Life Association, OAALA Graduate]
Sister Maria: What a wonderful, diverse, committed group of people there is an Oklahoma, so 
really for me, OAALA was priceless, and I felt it was a wonderful, complete overview of 
possibilities and opportunities. Then, we together saw where needs were and how we can help 
each other, and someone had experience in this, or knew someone in that.  It was a great 
networking and resource, and it was a think tank as well. It really for me was a source of 
encouragement and validation of, that this is something that can and should be done. 
Judy Leitner: We give them such practical information and go-to resources that they love it, so 
they keep on doing what they’re doing. We’ve trained over these 20 years between 400 and 
500 folks. 
Lance Robertson: I think, at the end of the day, the whole purpose of not only Aging Services, 
but then certainly the Academy is to help people remain independent and to have meaningful 
lives in their own community, and be able to make their own choices. And, everything we do is 
really pushing that direction, both at the state and federal levels. So, I think it is just imperative 
that the Academy continues to understand that kind of is the core mission behind why are we 
doing what we do. 
D. Pearl Barnett: Aging advocacy is not just about serving people who are on Medicaid, or 
serving people who are poor, or serving people who are what many people call frail.  It’s serving 
all types of people who are aging in our community, so making sure that we re-imagine through 
person-centered thinking, through advocacy, through caregiving what it means to be an aging 
adult in this country that we live in.
[No Audio:  Judy Leitner and Pat Baker founded OAALA in 1997.] 
Lance Robertson: I’ve sat alongside Miss Leitner who founded the Academy on many occasions 
where she’s reviewed applications, and it might surprise some people, but what we look for 
isn’t really somebody that maybe brings some sort of wholesale skill set to the Academy, but 
really somebody that we can clearly see wants to be involved for the right reasons.  They have 
passion. Individuals who are open-minded and are willing to learn. You know, again getting 
back to effective advocacy, so many times people start those conversations thinking they 
already have the answers, and being an effective advocate means you’ve got to be flexible and 
accept the fact that sometimes what you thought might not be completely accurate, and to be 
the best you can be, you need to be able to embrace that. 
Judy Leitner:  We bring people some from so many different walks of life, and it just makes that 
stew so much richer. 
Sister Maria: I think OAALA is a wonderful sort of co-op approach to maximizing talent, efforts 
and resources on behalf of our growing senior population. 
Lance Robertson: I can only say to potential funders, somebody that’s interested in helping 
support the Academy, that this is an outstanding investment. So you are foundation, and you 
are looking for a program that actually has a track record of proven success, this academy does. 
I think for anybody that wants to invest in really anything, we all look for some sort of return. 
What are we getting out of it? And, Oklahoma has long been heralded nationally for this 
program, and it’s because we now have 400 more trained advocates then we once did, and I 
think many states thirst for that opportunity because of the impact it can have. 
The legislative body in every state needs to know that they have a cadre of engaged citizens, 
not necessarily paid state employees, or lobbyists, or people that come in with a particular 
agenda, but individuals that they know as citizens that they can depend on, listen to, and work 
with. And, the Academy provides such an excellent venue for that. We vet those individuals and 
certainly make sure that they are quality folks that are in it for the right reasons. If you are a 
legislator, that’s the sort of person you want to be able to deal with. It’s a person you want to 
be able to bounce ideas off of. 
Judy Leitner: OAALA has given me more than I’ve ever given it, in terms of all the wonderful 
people I know now and watching how they gone back and implemented the things we’ve 
shared with them here and have changed programs and concepts that I know are making life 
better for all older Oklahomans and their families as well. 

D. Pearl Barnett: Well, we are all aging every day, so as we move through this new way of 
thinking, working together and being more efficient is definitely necessary for us to make sure 
we do what we do and do it well. 
Judy Leitner: I hope OAALA will continue another 20 years or even beyond that, and that the 
concept will grow. Because it does make a difference in peoples’ lives, not only in the 
professionals who are providing services, but ultimately the end-users are those of us who are 
growing older and want to continue to do it our way for as long as we can.
[No Audio: Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Aging Servies logo]