Jennifer Hankins serves as Managing Director for Tulsa Innovation Labs (TIL), a tech-led economic development organization responsible for catalyzing the Tulsa Region’s leadership in advanced industries. TIL was pioneered by the George Kaiser Family Foundation and believes that by building a world-class tech hub in America’s heartland, opportunity is unlocked for all.
Jennifer joined the founding team in January 2020 and brings over ten years of direct economic development experience to the team. Working to convene myriad stakeholders across multiple industries, she is responsible for setting TIL’s strategic direction, organizational mission, and most importantly, is responsible for leading a dynamic and high-performing team and the broad portfolio of work currently underway. Most recently, Jennifer successfully led a regional coalition to secure a $38.2 investment from EDA’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge for the Tulsa Regional Advanced Mobility (TRAM) Cluster and also an EDA Tech Hubs Designation for the Tulsa Hub for Equitable Trustworthy Autonomy (THETA).
She is a native of Kansas City, Missouri and holds a bachelor of political science degree from Oklahoma State University.
Prior to joining Tulsa Innovation Labs, Jennifer served in the economic development division of the Tulsa Regional Chamber as Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Small Business where she was responsible for working with area partners to help grow the regional entrepreneurial-ecosystem and also managing the Chamber’s business incubator for high-growth startups. Jennifer also served as manager of business retention & expansion on the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development team. Prior to her time in Oklahoma, Jennifer worked in the Kansas City region for the Wyandotte Economic Development Council as investor relations coordinator and for Catholic Charities of Kansas City- St. Joseph as development manager.