Thank you to everyone who attended Shine a Light 2022, including our sponsors, co-chairs, emcees, partners, volunteers, and staff. Together, we raised $280,000 to shine a light and build brighter futures with all children and families in Central Oklahoma!

Roger & Phyllis Stong have been married for almost 27 years. They have one daughter, Heather Ross, son-in-law Bob Ross, & two wonderful grandchildren, Lilly & Frank Ross. Both Roger and Phyllis were raised in large families whose parents modeled "love your neighbors" and "treat others as you would like to be treated". Roger grew up in Virginia and Phyllis in Texas. They are both proud Oklahomans of almost 40 years.

Roger is President/CEO at Crowe & Dunlevy, where his practice focuses on corporate and securities law. He is also Chairman of the Business Department and has provided hours of pro-bono legal work benefiting Sunbeam Family Services, as well as other charities. Roger has also supported Sunbeam’s children, families, and seniors through volunteerism at Sunbeam events.

Phyllis is a tireless community volunteer, supporting many nonprofit organizations. In 2003, Phyllis co-founded Sunbeam's volunteer auxiliary, Friends of Sunbeam. In 2011, she started the first Friends of Sunbeam book fair for 200 children at Sunbeam’s Educare Oklahoma City. The book fair has grown to two fairs per year and now includes a second location at Sunbeam’s Pierce Early Education Center. Phyllis and other Friends volunteers have donated more than 6,000 books to Sunbeam families through the fairs. Phyllis also assumed several leadership roles while serving 16 years on the Sunbeam Board of Directors, including Board President in 2019-2020.

“Sunbeam is a wonderful organization.  For almost 20 years, we have been privileged to be a part of their work to nurture children and families for a better future.  It has been a joy to work with the Board of Directors, staff, volunteers and clients to make a difference in our community.”

– Roger and Phyllis Stong

Shine a Light Co-Chairs

Ginny Bass Carl

Ginny Bass Carl, ​JD, CAP, Founder and CEO of Giving Well LLC, is ​a 5th generation Oklahoman and a licensed attorney in Oklahoma, Texas and Hawaii.  She received her law and accounting degrees from OU. Combining her years of working for nonprofits, including Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and Oklahoma Hall of Fame, nonprofit board service, training, and passion to change the world, she started her own business to scale philanthropy. Her quest is to help donors have greater impact by ensuring nonprofits balance mission with business, especially planned giving, fundraising, and governance. In 2019, she achieved her Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP) designation. 

In response to the economic hardships triggered by the pandemic, Ginny was asked to lead a public-private partnership, Community CARES Partners. A program of Communities Foundation of Oklahoma, Ginny stood up the CCP resource center with a team of over a dozen professionals to provide financial assistance to residents for housing, utilities and other needs. Together they administer nearly $20M in CARES funds allocated by the State of Oklahoma, City of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County. 

Ginny currently serves on the boards of Leadership Oklahoma, Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness Foundation, Potts Family Foundation, and Oklahoma Association of Charitable Gift Planners. She will chair the next class of LOK and was co-chair of LOYAL classes IX and X. She is a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma ​(Class 30) ​and Leadership Oklahoma City​ (Class 28)​. In 2012 and 2017, Ginny was one of the 50 Women Making a Difference in Oklahoma. She has two children, Collin and Rachael, and is married to Peter, owner of The Well of OKC Wine and Spirits.   

Hillary Burkholder

Hillary Burkholder is the Deputy Chief of Strategic Engagement at Oklahoma Human Services. 

She has worked with communities in the social service arena for more than fifteen years in state government, local nonprofits, and at the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Public Management. She has a Master’s of Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from the University of Oklahoma.

Her professional career has focused on improving the lives of the most vulnerable families in our state and has culminated in her current position where she identifies and leverages innovative partnership opportunities for Oklahoma Human Services to come alongside the nonprofit sector, and ultimately, remove systemic barriers for families.

Hillary believes in actively serving her community and is a current board member for the Public Health Institute of Oklahoma and Magdalene House OKC. She has also served as a board member for the OU Board of Visitors for the College of Arts and Sciences as well as several young professional boards, and is an alumna of Leadership OKC’s LOYAL Class IX.

In addition to her passion for the community, she is a mother of a toddler, avid reader, and lover of public radio. 

Shine a Light Emcees

Bobbie Miller & Karl Torp With News 9

Aimee Ahpeatone
Peggy Burris
Cindy Fairchild
Sarah Glick
Bob Harbison
Diana Harden
Chris Harrison
Candy Herrald
Patrick Hill
Gary Huneryager
Dr. Mary McCoy

David Parker
Jedidiah Perdue,M.D., M.P.H.
Mark Potts
Sarah Roberts
Becky Roten
Robert Ruiz
Todd Sanders
Marnie Taylor
Alexandra Towler-Bliss, Esq. CAP
Evan Walter
Mekeia Williams