Dee Harris

Director of Communications and Engagement

Dee Harris is a global advocacy strategist and communications leader who has spent her career working in spaces where strategy and story meet, making the case that when they’re aligned, communications become the engine of change. At Creative Commons, she serves as Director of Communications and Engagement, bringing decades of experience in marketing communications, creative production, and advocacy. She has also led the organization’s work as Director of Open Culture Storytelling, championing international dialogue toward a UNESCO framework for equitable access to public domain heritage in the digital environment.

Before her current work at CC, Dee led strategic communications, public engagement, creative content and multimedia services as Chief Marketing Communications Officer for Family & Children’s Services. She shaped the organization’s messaging across 72 programs, led crisis communications, and strengthened community outreach, deepening connections between the public and critical mental health and social services.

Beyond her leadership in marketing communications, Dee is a versatile creator whose work spans education, technology, the arts, and nonprofit industries. An author, illustrator, graphic designer, animator, and videographer, she is an active member and juror for The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts. Her work has been internationally recognized with the Communicator Award of Excellence and the Clarion Award.

Her writing has appeared in Tulsa World and the Safety and Justice Challenge, a MacArthur Foundation initiative, covering media, culture, openness, and justice, and she has trained at the Intensive Journalistic Writing Institute at The Washington Post and The Boston Globe. She is also the illustrator of No One Is Too Old to Learn: A Theoretical Perspective on Adult Brain Functions and Adult Learning.

Earlier in her career, Dee was a secondary English and journalism educator, earning recognition as Oklahoma Scholastic Media’s Journalism Teacher of the Year and a nominee for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Medal of Honor. She has served on national and local boards of the Association for Women in Communications and the advisory boards of the Journalism Education Association and Southern Interscholastic Press Association. Additionally, she contributed to the redevelopment of the Journalism Certification Examination for Educators and co-authored a curriculum guide for sports broadcasting and video journalism.

Guided by curiosity, creative expression, and strategic thinking, Dee enjoys reading, writing, painting, and digital media art. She and her husband live in Tulsa, where they hang out with a Corgi named Conley, cycle, and contribute both creatively and technically to regional film productions.