Allen Leaird Chosen for Leadership Award

Big Five Community Services Director Allen Leaird was recently chosen to receive the Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies’ Guy Davis Leadership Award at the Fall Conference held in Oklahoma City. He was honored at the Association’s Awards Luncheon, where he received the award for his 35 years of service in Community Action. Mr. Leaird has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Transit Manager of the Year for the state of Oklahoma, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Partner of Transportation, served as President of the Oklahoma Transit Association, and has been two-time President of Housing for the State of Oklahoma. He has also served as Legislative Liaison for the State of Oklahoma for deregulation of utilities in Washington, D.C., and Legislative Liaison for transit issues in the state. Mr. Leaird was instrumental in establishing supportive services for homeless veterans and helped develop the first public housing program in the state, operated by a Community Action Agency and also helped to implement one of the first rural transportation services outside of the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas, SORTS, the Southern Oklahoma Rural Transportation System. He has served as Chairman of Economic Development in Coalgate and served as Chairman of the Coal County Medical Center. Mr. Leaird has attended both East Central University and the University of Oklahoma and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources.