E.L. and Thelma Gaylord Foundation

E.L. and Thelma Gaylord Foundation

The E.L. and Thelma Gaylord Foundation was formed in 1994 by Edward L. Gaylord and his wife Thelma, formalizing a pattern of charitable giving that had accompanied the Gaylord family's business expansion across Oklahoma for decades. The wealth originates from E.L. Gaylord's stewardship of the Oklahoma Publishing Company, which his father E.K. Gaylord founded and which grew to include The Daily Oklahoman, Channel 5 KOCO-TV, the Gaylord Hotels brand, Nashville's Opryland complex, and extensive real estate holdings. In 2011, the family sold OPUBCO to Philip Anschutz, consolidating the fortune that the foundation's endowment draws upon today. The foundation deploys capital primarily through grantmaking rather than direct investment, concentrating on qualified charitable organizations within the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Its stated giving pillars — the arts, education, medical research, and children's issues — reflect the long-running philanthropic priorities the Gaylords maintained during their lifetimes. While the foundation does not publicly disclose its endowment size, its underlying asset base appears to include certain commercial real estate holdings that were retained alongside the grantmaking corpus. The foundation maintains headquarters at the Waterford Boulevard complex in Oklahoma City and has supported capital projects that include dedicated pickleball courts at Scissortail Park. Governance rests with a five-member board of co-trustees. E.L. Gaylord's four daughters — Christy Gaylord Everest, who serves as president, Mary Gaylord McClean, Louise Gaylord Bennett, and the next-generation Tricia L. Everest, who also holds the position of Oklahoma Secretary of Public Safety — hold decision-making authority alongside David O. Hogan, the sole non-family professional advisor on the board. The foundation does not operate adjacent club vehicles, co-investment platforms, or separate philanthropic trusts; its architecture remains a straightforward private foundation conducting annual grant cycles. The Gaylord foundation is structurally distinct from many similarly-sized family vehicles in that its grantmaking map mirrors the geography of the original family business footprint. Rather than diversifying geographically or by cause area, the board concentrates funding within greater Oklahoma City — a posture that makes the foundation a perennial anchor sponsor for major local institutions and capital campaigns. The board's composition, blending four family members with a single outside professional trustee, represents a governance model that balances direct family control with an external fiduciary voice uncommon among foundations of its vintage.