WASHINGTON, DC – Oklahoma City nonprofit, Upward Transitions was recognized as the Innovative Agency of the Year for 2025 at the Travelers Aid International Convention in Washington, DC, this month.
Travelers Aid International is an international network of social service agencies, airports, and train stations representing a safety net to individuals of all abilities to connect with a support system or place. The first National Travelers Aid Association was founded in 1917.
Upward Transitions has served stranded travelers for 100 years through its Travelers Aid Program since 1925, beginning at the Santa Fe Railroad Station in Oklahoma City. Today, the program continues at the OKC Will Rogers International Airport where its team of volunteers assists every kind of traveler. In its fiscal year 2025, Upward Transitions’ Travelers Aid Program’s 36 volunteers dedicated nearly 5,905 hours serving 136,292 visitors and callers at the airport.
Today, Upward Transitions also assists the most vulnerable in our community, experiencing or at risk of homelessness, through its Community Outreach Program providing birth certificates and IDs to assist those seeking employment and housing in exiting homelessness. The agency also assists those at risk of homelessness due to eviction through assistance with rent and/or utilities payments to prevent families with minor children and seniors from entering homelessness.
In June of this year, Upward Transitions was recognized by The Courage Project, a new national initiative praising actions at the community level bolstering civic engagement and inclusive community values as well as to honor and celebrate everyday acts of civic bravery. The organization’s work to prevent families with minor children and seniors from losing their housing through eviction was honored by the project’s members and awarded with a $20,000 grant.
In October of this year, Upward Transitions launched its newest program, Hope Flyers. The innovative program, funded by United Way of Central Oklahoma’s WayFinder Grant, is the first of its kind assisting individuals experiencing transportation poverty in maintaining employment and saving for reliable, full-time transportation by lending them e-bikes through a partnership with Drop Mobility.
The Innovative Agency of the Year award was created by Travelers Aid International in 2024 to recognize organizations that implement groundbreaking programs to meet the specific needs of their communities. All 31 Travelers Aid International member agencies, including those from the U.S., Canada and Australia, were considered for this award. The first Innovation Award was presented at TAI’s annual conference in 2024 to Donna Paramore, CFRE, executive director of the Travelers Aid Society of Greater New Orleans. Upward Transitions was selected for its innovative, creative, and dedicated service to the Oklahoma City community.
“I cannot think of another organization more deserving of this award than Upward Transitions and its brilliant leader, CEO Periann Pulliam,” commented Travelers Aid International President and CEO Kathleen Baldwin. “Periann has been the driving force in her nearly seven years at the UT helm for the agency’s innovative, creative and dedicated service to the Oklahoma City community.”
The award was presented to Upward Transitions’ CEO, Periann Pulliam and Upward Transitions’ Travelers Aid Volunteer Coordinator, Sharon Scott during the conference.
“We are incredibly honored to receive this recognition,” said Pulliam. “Upward Transitions has served our community for 100 years, and our team is incredibly dedicated, compassionate, and motivated to make positive changes in the lives of those we serve.”
For information about Upward Transitions and its programs and services, visit www.upwardtransitions.org, or contact Conna Dewart, Development and Public Relations Manager at 405-232-5507 or cdewart@upwardtransitions.org.
More information about Travelers Aid International can be found at https://www.travelersaid.org.
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