Karen Gray

Dr. Gray holds a BSW from the University of Missouri and an MSW from the University of Kansas. After 17 years of professional practice, Dr. Gray earned a Ph.D. from the University of Texas-Austin in 2001. Dr. Gray’s research scholarship focused on poverty and poverty alleviation methods, and the decision case–based method of instruction. Although Dr. Gray retired from nearly 20 years in academia in 2018, she continues scholarship by completing a book about C.O.P.S, the oldest Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) affiliate. In 2012, to begin fighting social injustice in the Tulsa area, Dr. Gray worked to bring the IAF to Tulsa. ACTION, the Tulsa IAF affiliate, works at the macro level on issues such as student loan debt, criminal justice reform, public education, and immigration.