The American Red Cross Kansas and Oklahoma Region serves nearly 7 million people living across Kansas and Oklahoma. The Region provides vital services to the area 365 days a year— responding to home fires in local neighborhoods, helping our military service members veterans and families, teaching first aid and CPR to community groups and helping maintain the blood supply by hosting blood drives across the region.
We’re able to provide these services thanks to a corps of dedicated volunteers and the generosity of our donors. The American Red Cross puts these donations to good use. The Red Cross is not a government agency and relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work. An average of 90 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs.
How do we do it? By practicing what we preach: preparedness. We train our volunteers. We plan ahead for the types of disasters that strike in our community. And we train individuals, businesses, and community groups so they too, can be prepared too.
Alice Townsend is the Regional CEO for the American Red Cross of Kansas and Oklahoma.
An accomplished professional with a background in health care administration and community service, Alice oversees Red Cross service delivery across six chapters in the two-state region. She is proud of the work being done to build resilient communities that are better prepared to face disasters. Under her leadership, the Red Cross has made significant strides in supporting those in need before, during and after emergencies.
Alice's career has been marked by significant achievements, including her role as the President of Sales for Encompass Home Health and Hospice. In this position, she led operations in the western United States and played an instrumental role in implementing care transition programs. These programs strengthened the continuum of care for patients upon hospital discharge, ensuring a smooth and effective transition to home-based care.
Alice's exceptional leadership and commitment to making a difference are being recognized. In 2023, she was named one of the Journal Record’s most-admired CEOs and a “Making a Difference” honoree — the nominees for the outlet’s Woman of the Year award. These accolades reflect her dedication to excellence and her passion for serving others.
Alice is a dedicated family woman and resides in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, with her husband, Jerry. Their daughter, Sarah, attends the University of Central Oklahoma.
Brian has been an employee with the American Red Cross for more than a decade. Serving in multiple roles within the American Red Cross over the years has served him well in his current role. Brian has been in roles such as Public Relations, Fundraising, Disaster Services and Services to the Armed Forces during his time with the organization. Also, he has served on leadership roles in different capacities for multiple national disaster events such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2013 Oklahoma Tornadoes and Hurricane Harvey.
Kathryn Cox joined the Kansas-Oklahoma leadership team from the North Texas Region. Most recently, Kathryn served as their interim Chief Development Officer and supported the team through both fiscal year planning and gray sky fundraising. She guided North Texas fundraising to $1 million over their first quarter goal.
Prior to joining the American Red Cross in June 2020, Kathryn served as the Director of Corporate Partnerships for the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas.
Kathryn was raised in Richardson, Texas, and is currently a resident of Keller (a Fort Worth suburb just 60 minutes from the Oklahoma border), where she lives with her husband of 13 years, Jon; their 7-year-old daughter, Zoey; and their Weimaraner, Clark. She is a proud graduate of the University of North Texas (Go Mean Green!) and attends as many football games as possible with her dad, also a UNT alumni. In her spare time, Kathryn is a Broadway enthusiast, avid traveler, a self-proclaimed foodie, and a runner. Kathryn is a satisfied one-time marathoner and a regular, enthusiastic half-marathoner.
As Regional Disaster Officer, Shelly Webb is responsible for implementing disaster services, from relief operations to emergency preparedness programs.
Shelly is no stranger to the American Red Cross, having joined as a volunteer in 2015 before stepping into a paid position as a Disaster Program Specialist in March of 2016. Energized by challenges and driven by an authentic desire to serve others, Shelly was promoted to the Disaster Workforce Engagement Manager role in 2018, followed by a transition to Senior Disaster Program Manager in April of 2020 with the Kansas-Oklahoma region merger.
Before coming to the American Red Cross, Shelly was a master trainer for a federal grant managed through the University of Washington. For over 15 years, she trained hundreds of volunteers and employees across the nation in data-driven decision-making skills, volunteer engagement principles and leadership development.
In her spare time, Shelly is an avid heirloom gardener. She lives on a quaint homestead in rural Oklahoma with her husband of 27 years.
Marama Bayles-Raleigh serves as the Regional Director for Service to the Armed Forces and International Services. Marama is a proud Oklahoman and loves getting to serve our military members, their families, and our veterans.
She has spent over a decade in the nonprofit sector working to build community resources and collaboration. Before taking on this role she spent over 3 years doing volunteer recruitment for the American Red Cross. Connecting volunteers to volunteer opportunities that fit their interests and skills was a highlight of that time. Marama came to love the mission of the American Red Cross during high school and college when she had the opportunity to be an event volunteer during some major disasters.
She and her husband have one daughter and several animals. She enjoys nice nights at home with her family watching tv or a movie, trying new foods, and exploring the local zoo and aquarium.
Kellie Keith was the Regional Volunteer Services Officer for the American Red Cross Central Appalachia Region before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in January 2023.
Kellie first worked alongside the Kansas-Oklahoma team at Sound the Alarm 2023. Kellie has a love for the mission of the Red Cross, which further deepened during her disaster relief operation deployment to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
Kellie attended Arizona State University and has enjoyed a long career focused on nonprofit management. Kellie worked at Special Olympics and the Alzheimer’s Association prior to joining Red Cross in November 2016.
Kellie has had a passion for volunteering her entire life and loves sharing her enthusiasm with others.
Matt Trotter joined the Red Cross in 2021 after covering local, state, regional and national news in Tulsa for nearly a decade. For most of that time, he was a reporter and then news director for the NPR affiliate Public Radio Tulsa.
Matt's first real exposure to Red Cross disaster relief was as a TV news field producer during the 2013 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, and he’s proud to now be part of this leading humanitarian organization. As Regional Communications Director, Matt oversees Red Cross media relations and social media strategies in Kansas and Oklahoma, advises in the development of communications to external stakeholders and partners, and takes a lot of photos and videos.
Matt lives in Tulsa with his wife and son. When he’s not with them, you’ll find him on a soccer field somewhere as a nationally certified assistant referee.
