A celebration of 20 years of TYPROS — Tulsa’s Young Professionals — brought about 200 to The Vista at 21 on Thursday night.

The event featured photos and videos of the community development initiative started by the Tulsa Regional Chamber in April 2005, with many former and current Chamber and TYPROS leaders in attendance.

“It’s really been great to watch TYPROS grow over the years and really make a difference,” said 2025 Chamber Chair Bill Knight. “Think about 20 years of really connecting people, developing and empowering young Tulsans to be great citizens and improve our city. That’s really been the focus of TYPROS since the beginning, and it continues today.”

A 10-minute video, introduced by the first TYPROS chair from 2005, Andrea Myers of Candor, reminisced on some notable stories from the initiative’s earlier years, including the successful effort (despite a cease and desist from the company initially) to bring Oklahoma’s first Trader Joe’s to Tulsa.

“It was all about connection, about helping young professionals… connecting in the community, connect with causes that were important.” Myers said. “A lot has changed in 20 years, but I think the core of that is still the same.”

The 2025 TYPROS chair, Lauren Miers, noted some of the important work the initiative accomplished in the past year. That included getting Tulsans registered to vote through 918 VOTE, organizing a volunteer effort through TYPROS Day of Service and launching the Lead Forward program to equip people with skills and tools to be more inclusive leaders in their workplaces and communities.

“In the midst of all of this, my focus has been equipping our leadership team to foster meaningful connections with our TYPROS membership, because after all, TYPROS is about its people,” Miers said.

Miers especially thanked for their support Justin McLaughlin, the Chamber’s executive vice president and chief operating officer; Jonathan Long, senior vice president of community development, and Emily McCraw.

“This has been a really important initiative for the Tulsa Regional Chamber for 20 years now, and the whole reason we've started it was we wanted to make sure that when we recruit companies here or companies that are already here, that they can attract young professionals here…and that they can retain young professionals,” McLaughlin said.

Thursday’s event also included the introduction of new TYPROS Executive Director Reagan Gowens. The community can expect revitalized programming in the near future.

“Tulsa has a great momentum right now and the only way that we can continue to have that momentum is making sure that young leaders are plugged in and feel that this is a vibrant place for them,” Jonathan Long said. “We're excited to be able to continue that with all of the great engagement and all of the exciting programming that we'll have over the next upcoming 20 years.”

Joining TYPROS is free and comes with many benefits from exclusive members-only events, early access and discounted tickets, member directory access and more. For more information, visit TYPROS.org.

Pictured: Past and present TYPROS chairpersons

New TYPROS executive director Reagan Gowens was introduced at Thursday's event.

 Past and present TYPROS leadership team members in attendance at Thursday's event raise their hands to be recognized.