Current source roster
Asian Affairs Commission
Asian Affairs education-advocate member
Appointment December 20, 2023; listed term ends January 1, 2028
Scheduled term end, not a prediction of actual departure.
People / Government & civic life
Parisa Pilehvar
Asian Affairs Commission chair
An education nonprofit leader whose public work connects teacher development, community research and Asian civic representation.
Parisa Pilehvar chairs Tulsa’s Asian Affairs Commission and is managing director of Collective Leadership at Teach For America Oklahoma. Her documented public service includes the Human Rights Commission, while her professional record includes classroom teaching and educator leadership.
Career & public service
- Before 2024
Elementary teaching
Unboxed’s contributor biography describes earlier elementary teaching in Tulsa.
- January 2022
Leadership Tulsa selection
Named to 360 Class 66 with Teach for America affiliation.
- December 20, 2023
Asian Affairs appointment
City roster lists appointment to the education-advocate seat.
- Spring 2024
Professional writing
Coauthored an essay about organizational improvement; identified as Alumni Impact managing director.
- February 2025
Human Rights proceedings
Participated in the Charter for Compassion discussion.
- June 3, 2025
Research committee slate
Named in the approved 2025–2026 committee-chair slate.
- January 8, 2026
Presiding as vice-chair
Conducted the meeting in the chair’s absence.
- November 2026 verification
Current chair
City webpage identifies Pilehvar as chair; exact transition date remains undetermined.
People, institutions and the relationships between them
Following the connections
Each step below represents a documented relationship. Dates and roles belong to the individual links; a path can span different periods.
personParisa Pilehvar
commissionAsian Affairs Commission
Chair duties operate within collective commission decisions.
personParisa Pilehvar
nonprofitTeach For America
Paid professional role distinct from public advisory service.
personParisa Pilehvar
public boardHuman Rights Commission
Documented liaison service; renewed term is unresolved.
Documented relationships
6 documented relationships · Historical and current roles remain distinct.
Current source roster
Asian Affairs Commission
Asian Affairs chair
Current roster; previously vice-chair in January 2026
Exact officer-transition date unresolved.
Historical record
Asian Affairs Commission
Data and Research committee chair
2025–2026 slate approved June 3, 2025
No continuation beyond the documented slate inferred.
Historical record
Human Rights Commission
Asian Affairs liaison to Human Rights Commission
Documented 2025 service; listed term ended July 1, 2026
Scheduled term end; website still lists member, renewed term unresolved.
Current source roster
Teach For America
Managing director of Collective Leadership
Current employer roster; Alumni Impact title documented in 2025
Exact promotion and hiring dates not established.
Historical record
Leadership Tulsa
Selected for Leadership Tulsa 360 Class 66
January 27, 2022 selection announcement
Cohort selection, not an academic degree or proof of graduation.
How to assess the work
The bylaws require public meetings and an annual report, with decisions recorded through the commission’s proceedings. Readers can therefore follow whether an idea becomes an adopted recommendation and whether a program produces documented results. Pilehvar’s professional employment, leadership-program selection and public service identify different institutional relationships. None alone establishes that an employer directs a public vote or that a program announcement demonstrates its outcomes.
What the chair can decide
The bylaws give the chair responsibility for presiding at meetings, preparing agendas with City staff, communicating with elected officials, overseeing activities with the vice-chair and calling special meetings. Committee-chair appointments require commission approval. Commission decisions require a quorum and majority vote. These rules give Pilehvar an important role in organizing what the body considers while reserving its decisions to the members collectively. The distinction matters when reading a statement at a meeting: a chair’s comment is not automatically a commission resolution.
A career in teacher and leadership development
Teach For America’s Oklahoma staff page identifies Pilehvar as managing director of Collective Leadership, with statewide responsibilities. Leadership Tulsa’s January 2022 announcement placed her in its 360 Class 66 and identified her employer as Teach for America Greater Tulsa. A contributor biography in the Spring 2024 issue of Unboxed described her as managing director of Alumni Impact and said she previously taught elementary school in Tulsa. Those dated institutional descriptions establish a progression from classroom work to educator and alumni leadership; they do not supply a complete employment chronology or an original hiring date.
Writing about institutional change
In Unboxed, Pilehvar and Lauren King coauthored an essay about continuous improvement in social-impact organizations. It discusses lessons from ImpactTulsa’s Learning and Improving for Transformation program, including connecting improvement methods to existing values and making space for staff reflection. The essay is a professional account of practice, rather than an independent evaluation of educational outcomes. It connects Pilehvar’s work to a local network concerned with organizational learning without establishing that she worked for ImpactTulsa or controlled its programs.
Research and community stories
The June 3, 2025 minutes name Pilehvar as the Data and Research committee chair in a slate approved by eight affirmative votes. She was also the commission’s vice-chair. Documenters reporting on the January 8, 2026 meeting describes her asking commissioners to help collect community stories for Tulsa Asia Fest. The stated goal was 50 stories; she reported seven received at that stage. This was a collection target and interim count, not evidence that the target had been met. The project illustrates a practical form of representation: deciding whose experiences become visible in a city-sponsored civic setting.
Bringing community institutions into public discussion
Public Radio Tulsa reported in April 2025 that Pilehvar urged closer engagement with Tulsa’s culturally diverse Muslim communities after commissioners attended an Eid celebration. Sarah Gilpin, then chair, set aside time for an Islamic Society of Tulsa speaker. The June minutes document a presentation from the society’s youth director and Pilehvar’s question about what the commission could learn from religious institutions about community needs. This sequence documents outreach followed by a public discussion. It does not establish religious membership, an employment relationship or authority over the society.
A second commission and a bounded term
Pilehvar also served as the Asian Affairs representative on the Human Rights Commission. February 2025 minutes record her participating in discussion of the Charter for Compassion, suggesting that commissions could support reaffirmation before taking it to City Council. An attached presentation identifies her Teach For America role, linking the civic and professional records. The City’s Human Rights webpage still lists her, but the appointment roster and September 2025 reappointment agenda give a July 1, 2026 term end. This profile records the documented service without treating the website listing as proof of a renewed term.
Vice-chair before chair
January 8, 2026 minutes show Pilehvar presiding as vice-chair in Gilpin’s absence. The current City commission page identifies Pilehvar as chair and Cecilia Nguyen as vice-chair. These records establish the change in leadership, but not its precise effective date. The distinction keeps a dated meeting role separate from a current office and avoids assigning an unsupported start date.
Interpretation
Where these connections matter
The strongest documented connection across Pilehvar’s work is the development of people and institutions: supporting educators, organizing civic discussion and gathering community perspectives. Her commission position places those practices within municipal advisory government. Her influence is best assessed through agendas, recorded recommendations and subsequent responses from officials, rather than by treating an advisory title as direct control of public policy.
Check the record
Sources & corrections
Research checked 2026-11-03. Roles and financial figures retain their source dates. Sections appear only when supported material is available; an omitted section is not a finding that no such relationship exists.
- City of Tulsa board appointments ↗
primary institutional record · Checked 2026-11-03
Asian Affairs Education Advocate and Human Rights Asian Affairs liaison seats.
- City of Tulsa Asian Affairs Commission ↗
primary institutional record · Checked 2026-11-03
Current officers, purpose and 2026 goals.
- Asian Affairs Commission bylaws revised April 1, 2025 ↗
primary institutional record · Source date 2025-04-01 · Checked 2026-11-03
PDF pages 3, 6–9: advisory role, officers, public meetings, quorum and decisions.
- Teach For America Oklahoma team ↗
primary institutional record · Checked 2026-11-03
Pilehvar: Managing Director, Collective Leadership (Statewide).
- Leadership Tulsa 360 Class 66 ↗
primary institutional record · Source date 2022-01-27 · Checked 2026-11-03
Class selection and Teach for America Greater Tulsa affiliation; not proof of graduation.
- Unboxed Issue 26, Spring 2024 ↗
primary institutional record · Source date 2024 · Checked 2026-11-03
Printed pages 29–33 coauthored essay; p137 contributor biography. Attributed professional account.
- Human Rights Commission February 17, 2025 minutes and presentation ↗
primary institutional record · Source date 2025-02-17 · Checked 2026-11-03
PDF pp1–2 attendance/discussion; p15 links named commissioner to Teach For America title; p19 literacy summary.
- Asian Affairs Commission 2025 minutes ↗
primary institutional record · Source date 2025 · Checked 2026-11-03
PDF p19: June 3, 2025 committee slate and eight-aye approval; pp19–20 Islamic Society presentation.
- Public Radio Tulsa: Muslim community voice in city cultural efforts ↗
independent reporting · Source date 2025-04-01 · Checked 2026-11-03
Max Bryan reporting; Pilehvar remarks and planned June speaker.
- Documenters: Asian Affairs Commission seeks community stories ↗
independent reporting · Source date 2026-01-13 · Checked 2026-11-03
Sam Stockley, reporting on January 8 meeting. Target distinct from completed submissions.
- Asian Affairs Commission January 8, 2026 minutes ↗
primary institutional record · Source date 2026-01-08 · Checked 2026-11-03
Page1 identifies Pilehvar as vice-chair presiding in chair absence.
- City of Tulsa Human Rights Commission ↗
primary institutional record · Checked 2026-11-03
Current website lists Pilehvar; does not resolve expired appointment term.
- Council agenda September 10, 2025 ↗
primary institutional record · Source date 2025-09-10 · Checked 2026-11-03
Item2a reappointment scheduled with July1,2026 term end; agenda not itself proof of vote.