People / Government & civic life

Brian Humphrey

City planning commissioner and African American Affairs chair

A commercial banker whose civic roles connect planning, neighborhood development and education.

Brian Humphrey serves on Tulsa’s city planning commission, chairs its African American Affairs Commission and joined KIPP Tulsa’s board in July 2026. Institutional records also identify him as a BancFirst vice president and Growing Together board chair. These are separate positions with different powers, rather than a single chain of authority.

What his planning seat can decide

Brian Humphrey serves on the City of Tulsa Planning Commission, with an appointment dated September 2, 2026, and a scheduled term ending September 2, 2028. The body reviews land use, zoning, subdivisions and lot splits. Zoning recommendations go to Tulsa City Council for a final decision. Humphrey has a vote within that collective process, rather than individual authority to rezone property. Members are nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the Council, and commission policies specify service without pay. His banking employment is separate from this unpaid public appointment.

A career in lending and community development

The résumé attached to Humphrey’s KIPP Tulsa Public Charter Schools nomination reports a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a marketing major, from Fort Hays State University in May 2011 and an MBA with a finance concentration in May 2013. It describes work as a Kansas Small Business Development Center consultant while completing the MBA. These are attributed résumé statements, not independently obtained academic records. His subsequent positions trace a path from development lending into commercial banking. The City’s February 2022 commission minutes identify him introducing himself as vice president of commercial lending at City National Bank and Trust. KIPP’s July 2026 nomination identifies his newer position as vice president of commercial banking and lending at BancFirst.

Career & public service

  1. 2011–2013

    Business education

    Résumé reports business degrees from Fort Hays State in May 2011 and May 2013.

  2. August 2013–January 2017

    Development lending

    Reported economic development specialist and loan officer at TEDC Creative Capital, the Tulsa Economic Development Corporation.

  3. January 2017–October 2018

    First Pryority Bank

    Reported assistant vice president.

  4. November 2018–May 2025

    City National Bank and Trust

    Reported market lead and vice president; role also appears in February 2022 City minutes.

  5. December 2021

    African American Affairs appointment

    City roster records membership appointment December 8; chairmanship is separately verified in 2026.

  6. March 2023

    Metropolitan planning appointment

    Official roster records March 1 appointment.

  7. June 2025

    BancFirst

    Résumé dates the start of his commercial banking vice presidency to June 2025.

  8. July–September 2026

    School board and city planning

    KIPP appoints him July 28; current City planning appointment begins September 2.

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.

Public planning authority
personBrian Humphrey
commissionCity of Tulsa Planning Commission

One commissioner in a collective decision process.

School governance
personBrian Humphrey
educationKIPP Tulsa Public Charter Schools

Board appointment is separate from bank employment.

Neighborhood leadership
personBrian Humphrey
nonprofitGrowing Together Tulsa

Chair identified in dated institutional nomination.

Foundation support for the neighborhood organization

Institutional support; no personal financial benefit or control inferred.

Documented relationships

12 documented relationships · Historical and current roles remain distinct.

Historical record

Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission

Former metropolitan planning commissioner

March 1, 2023–September 2, 2026

Former body dissolved September2,2026. Scheduled January2026 expiry does not establish departure; holdover allowed.

Current source roster

George Kaiser Family Foundation

Foundation describes support for Growing Together housing work · Growing Together Tulsa

Current institutional program description

No amount, ownership, exclusive funding or coordination inferred.

Interpretation

Following decisions across separate roles

Humphrey’s documented positions connect commercial lending, neighborhood development, education and public planning. That overlap makes transaction-specific disclosure and recusal records useful for understanding decisions; overlapping affiliations by themselves establish neither coordination nor misconduct. Current planning policies require disclosure of conflicts, withdrawal from conflicted deliberations and votes, and disclosure of private communications from interested parties. The appropriate unit of scrutiny is a particular application, contract or decision, with its participants and dated record. A bank title, nonprofit chairmanship and public commission seat each carry different responsibilities and should remain separate in the relationship map.

From metropolitan planning to a city commission

The official City roster dates Humphrey’s appointment to the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission to March 1, 2023. The metropolitan body later dissolved after its September 2, 2026 meeting; the current city commission is a distinct body. One contested vote illustrates how he approached a development question. In July 2023, residents objected to county zoning case CZ-547, raising drainage and buffering concerns about proposed commercial use. Humphrey supported the application because county engineering review would follow during platting. He joined the five-member majority recommending CS commercial zoning, against four dissenters. The record establishes his rationale and the commission recommendation. It does not establish that drainage was resolved, that construction followed, or the later county disposition.

Chairing the African American Affairs Commission

Humphrey also chairs the Greater Tulsa Area African American Affairs Commission. The City dates his membership appointment to December 8, 2021; that is not a documented start date for his chairmanship. The commission consists of mayor-appointed volunteers and works through policy, community engagement and culture, and education and skills committees. Its advisory and convening work differs from the planning commission’s land-use responsibilities. Minutes from March 2026 record Humphrey chairing a meeting at which the Office of Financial Empowerment and Community Wealth presented its banking-access, financial counseling and asset-protection work. Receiving that presentation does not make him the director of those City programs or establish a contract with his employer.

Growing Together and its institutional setting

KIPP’s July 2026 nomination identifies Humphrey as board chair of Growing Together Tulsa. His résumé dates board service to 2019 and says he served as treasurer and vice chair before chairing the board; it does not date each officer transition. Growing Together describes its work in Kendall-Whittier as combining education, housing and resident-led neighborhood improvement. Independent Public Radio Tulsa reporting documented resident dinners and neighborhood organizing under the earlier Growing Together initiative in 2012, years before his reported board service. The work should not be attributed solely to a later chair. The George Kaiser Family Foundation describes its support for Growing Together’s housing work and the organization’s Kendall-Whittier Neighborhood Trust. That establishes an institutional funding connection, without making Humphrey a foundation employee or establishing that the foundation controls his public votes.

Joining a charter-school governing board

KIPP’s approved July 28, 2026 minutes record a unanimous vote to appoint Humphrey to its board. The October 27 agenda continues to list him as a director. The appointment creates another distinct governance responsibility: the school board considers budgets, school policies, facilities and employment matters collectively. Its October agenda proposed authorizing managers of KIPP Tulsa Facilities, LLC to execute property-acquisition and financing documents, and revising board conflict-of-interest and recusal safeguards. Those were agenda proposals; the agenda alone does not establish approval or Humphrey’s vote. His lending background helps explain the nomination’s emphasis on finance, but the available records do not establish that BancFirst financed the proposed acquisition.

Check the record

Sources & corrections

Research checked 2026-11-02. 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.

  1. Planning Commission adopted policies and procedures ↗

    primary · Source date 2026-08-17 · Checked 2026-11-02

    Sections 1.2–1.6, 5.2–5.3; pages 1–2 and 7–8.

  2. Planning Office application process ↗

    primary · Checked 2026-11-02

    After the Hearing: Council consideration and appeals.

  3. KIPP Tulsa July 28, 2026 board agenda ↗

    primary · Source date 2026-07-27 · Checked 2026-11-02

    VI.I nomination links BancFirst, planning commission, African American Affairs chair and Growing Together chair; attached June1resume.

  4. Brian Humphrey résumé attached to KIPP board nomination ↗

    self-description in institutional record · Source date 2026-06-01 · Checked 2026-11-02

    Professional Experience, Education, Memberships. June1,2026 filename; attributed self-description. Contact details and performance/financial claims excluded.

  5. KIPP Tulsa approved July 28, 2026 minutes ↗

    primary · Source date 2026-07-28 · Checked 2026-11-02

    VI.I unanimously approves appointment. VI.A-B charter contracts; approval event distinct from present membership.

  6. KIPP Tulsa October 27, 2026 agenda ↗

    primary · Source date 2026-10-26 · Checked 2026-11-02

    Board member list includes Humphrey. VII.A proposed facility financing authorization; VII.E proposed governance safeguards. Agenda is not proof of votes.

  7. City African American Affairs Commission ↗

    primary · Checked 2026-11-02

    Mission, mayor-appointed volunteer structure, committees and current chair roster. Event-date discrepancy excluded.

  8. African American Affairs February 8, 2022 minutes ↗

    primary · Source date 2022-02-08 · Checked 2026-11-02

    New commissioner introductions: Humphrey identifies City National Bank commercial lending role.

  9. African American Affairs March 10, 2026 minutes ↗

    primary · Source date 2026-03-10 · Checked 2026-11-02

    Page1 Chair Humphrey and Office of Financial Empowerment presentation. No financial amounts reproduced.

  10. TMAPC July 19, 2023 adopted minutes ↗

    primary · Source date 2023-07-19 · Checked 2026-11-02

    Pages10–12 CZ-547: objections, Humphrey rationale, 5–4 recommendation. Later county disposition not established.

  11. Growing Together official mission ↗

    primary · Checked 2026-11-02

    Kendall-Whittier education, housing and neighborhood work; self-reported impact metrics not reproduced.

  12. GKFF Growing Together program description ↗

    primary · Checked 2026-11-02

    Foundation support for housing and neighborhood work; program listing does not establish control, grant amount or Humphrey foundation employment.

  13. Tulsa Giving: Low Profile Philanthropy Abounds ↗

    independent reporting · Source date 2012-12-18 · Checked 2026-11-02

    Independent reporting on neighborhood dinners and resident engagement in earlier Growing Together initiative. Predates Humphrey reported2019boardservice.

  14. City of Tulsa Planning Commission roster ↗

    primary · Checked 2026-11-02

    Brian Humphrey row: appointment September 2, 2026; scheduled expiration September 2, 2028. New subject-specific retrieval snapshot of the shared official roster; earlier reviewed Hood locator preserved.

  15. City authorities, boards and commissions ↗

    primary · Checked 2026-11-02

    Brian Humphrey rows: current planning seat; former TMAPC appointment March 1, 2023; African American Affairs appointment December 8, 2021, scheduled expiry May 1, 2029. TMAPC dissolution note September 2, 2026. Earlier reviewed snapshot preserved.

Submit a correction with supporting evidence ↗