Kendra Horn served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she represented Oklahoma’s Fifth District from 2019 to 2021. The Oklahoma native recently took on a new job as president and CEO of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation, a nonprofit that helps support one of the state’s largest school systems.
She recently spoke with Oklahoma Gazette about her former work in Congress and her new job advocating for local schools.
Oklahoma Gazette: During your time in Congress, what was your favorite part about working in Washington, D.C.?
Kendra Horn: I loved being able to walk around. When I was in Congress, some evenings, when it wasn’t crazy and when we finished with late votes, I could walk back to the place that I stayed, and I really enjoyed that. There are so many beautiful places. I always loved just exploring the city.
What were you most proud of from your work in Congress?
Constituent work. I think that’s one of the things that I’m the most proud of. My office was centered around serving constituents, serving people in the Fifth District. That meant making sure that we could do as much as possible to help seniors with Medicare or Social Security. We helped so many veterans who were having trouble navigating the system get the benefits that they were entitled to, that they had earned. We also helped people with IRS problems, and then with the pandemic, (helping) small businesses navigate that.
The ability to help people, the thousands of people we were able to help, is probably something I will most take away from that time.
Although you were a Democrat in the House, you seemed to work well with many of your Republican colleagues. Why was bipartisanship an intentional effort for you?
I worked so hard to reach across the aisle to get back to the actual issues that mattered, not the flame-throwing issues. [In Congress,] we’ve got workhorses and show horses, and we’re paying way too much attention to the show horses, and when we’re paying attention to those most outrageous things or governing in that way, whichever side of the political aisle you’re on, it leads to poor outcomes.
The bottom line is, if you’re just trying to legislate in social media posts and short slogans, it doesn’t create good results because the things that we’re dealing with are complex. I want to be a part of the solution.
What drew you to work for the OKCPS Foundation?
Education was always something that was important to me, and I firmly believe that ensuring that every single child in our community has access to a quality public education is one of the best investments we can make in our future. It’s easy for someone to think that public education doesn’t affect them if they don’t have kids (in school), but if we don’t invest in our schools now, we’re going to pay for it later.
When this position came open, I had been trying to figure out what the right next thing was. I knew I wanted to stay (in Oklahoma City) because this is home, and I love this place. [Education] was something that I deeply cared about in a place where the work needs to be done.
But education in Oklahoma can be just as political as Congress, especially right now. How do you react to that?
Right now, there’s a lot of arguments over policies, and we’re talking about things that aren’t actually getting to the heart of student outcomes, such as ensuring that our schools have the resources they need. But the reality is we can’t improve student outcomes if we don’t address adult behaviors. Those two things are tied together. Kids can’t do it on their own. Teachers and schools can’t do it on their own.
But if our educators have to face threats of funding being pulled out from under them, if they’re constantly having to worry about policies changing in mid-path, they’re not able to focus on student outcomes.
Disagreements over politicized issues don’t help us improve student outcomes and address the issues that our schools are facing. We have to reframe the conversation about what matters and understand why this upfront investment is not an issue that’s Democrat, Republican, Independent, whatever side it is. Are we making smart investments in our future, or are we doing things that will cost us down the road?
What role does the OKCPS Foundation specifically have in addressing those challenges?
We support programs that help teachers and students directly, like Coat-A-Kid.
Coat-A-Kid is where we raise money and we make sure that every child in OKCPS that needs a coat has one. If it’s freezing outside and they’ve got to walk blocks or longer to to school, they need a coat. Those are basic needs.
We also work with Donors Choose to get supplies to the classroom. [In Donors Choose, teachers can identify things that will help help them … with project-based learning and fill some of those other gaps in need.
Read OKC is another program. Literacy is something that we have to address. So we have our reading buddies and book club programs, so we’re supporting children’s learning and adult engagement. The more reliable adults there are, the more examples kids have in their lives, the more likely they are to succeed.
Our teacher pipeline program is also actively addressing some of the workforce shortages in qualified certified teachers. We’ve graduated 28 new teachers, and they give back to OKCPS. They are working as paraprofessionals while they’re in school part-time. We’re paying for their tuition, books and fees, and they get to keep their jobs as paraprofessionals and classroom aides.
We are also about building advocates and bringing more people on board.
It’s all about support, workforce (development) and advocacy if you want to boil it down. We work hand in hand with the the district to identify needs, because they can’t do everything by themselves. None of us can. That’s why nonprofits and and public-private partnerships, we all have to work together.
This article appears in The OG Food Issue 2025.