Empowering Innovators:
About Damon Gardenhire
“If you are deliberately trying to create a future that feels safe, you will willfully ignore the future that is likely.” ~Seth Godin in Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
With more than two decades of experience, Gardenhire has cultivated a unique expertise in bridging strategic communications, policy development, public affairs and philanthropy. His career is defined by a deep understanding of the crucial interplay between powerful storytelling, effective policy and impactful philanthropic investments, consistently driving tangible results across various sectors.
Transforming Education in Oklahoma
As a Senior Program Officer at the Walton Family Foundation & Walton Personal Philanthropy Group for 12 years, Gardenhire spearheaded initiatives that helped to reshape Oklahoma's educational landscape.
On his watch charter school enrollment surged from 7,053 children in 2012 to nearly 60,000 today.
During more than a decade of service as a grant officer, Oklahoma’s conditions for educational improvement and robust educational options for all families advanced dramatically. Key milestones:
A new tax credit grants program benefiting traditional public schools statewide
Launching a Cristo Rey high school in Oklahoma City, now in its sixth year (2024)
Support for successful rural charter school embraced by the community
A significant open enrollment win, allowing thousands of children to transfer in its first year (2022)
Creation of an "edupreneurship" certificate program at Oklahoma State University (2015)
A new education urban champion launched and supported in Oklahoma City (2024).
Introduction of a new universal tax credit school choice program (2024):
Benefited 27,800 kids in its first year
Two-thirds of beneficiaries from lower-income families
Now the third-largest choice program in the U.S., behind only Arizona and Florida
Journalistic Achievements & Crisis Communications
Gardenhire’s earlier career includes notable achievements in journalism and communications. He reported extensively on the Oklahoma City bombing, from on the scene moments after the deadly explosion to the widespread tragic aftermath across the nation for three years, including Timothy McVeigh’s federal trial for the FOX News Channel. Early in his career, Gardenhire’s investigative reporting for The Houston Chronicle broke news on the U.S. House check bouncing scandal in 1992.
Highlights:
Broke news on the U.S. House check bouncing scandal for the Houston Chronicle (1992)
Conducted rare interviews with key witnesses in high-profile cases. This included interviews with central witnesses to the events leading up to the Murrah Building bombing, and one of the rare interviews with the proprietor of the Dreamland Motel in Junction City, Kansas — the motel where McVeigh lodged the night before he drove the Ryder truck bomb to Oklahoma City.
Uncovered dangerous conditions at a horse racing track, leading to safety reforms
As chief spokesman for INTEGRIS Health for nearly a decade, Gardenhire managed complex medical issues and led crisis communications efforts, notably:
Coordinating the response to the devastating May 3, 1999, tornado in Oklahoma City
Developing media and communications strategies for prominent INTEGRIS service lines, including:
Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Center
Paul Silverstein Burn Center
Cancer Center
Heart Center at INTEGRIS Baptist
Shaping Policy & Public Discourse
Gardenhire’s experience extends to the highest levels of state government, where he drove communications and policy development for two Oklahoma Speakers of the House and as chief communications and policy advisor for Oklahoma's State Superintendent.
While in these roles, he wrote and edited the book, literally, on policy advancement for Oklahoma’s future, called 100 Ideas: Innovation for the Second Century. Since the book was published in 2007, many of its recommendations have found their way into state policy reforms.
Throughout his career, Gardenhire has consistently demonstrated an ability to navigate complex issues, communicate effectively across diverse audiences, and drive meaningful change through strategic thinking and decisive action.