Vicki Clark Gourley is the Chairman of Nichols Hills Publishing Co., Inc. and Publisher of OKC FRIDAY newspaper. In her 45 years at FRIDAY, she has received numerous state and national awards for Best News Story and her photojournalism. Her international photo credits include National Geographic’s “Crossing America.” She was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2006.

Gourley served as president for two years of Sister Cities International OKC and attended the Haikou, China, International Sister Cities Meeting representing Mayor Mick Cornett and Oklahoma City. She spoke to the over one-thousand delegates at the general world-wide meeting and was selected to be interviewed twice on Chinese television about the importance of the Sister Cities International relationships and Oklahoma City.

In 2013, Gourley represented SCI-OKC in Kigali, Rwanda, meeting with the mayor and other public officials. While there, the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (I.E.E.W.) hosted a banquet in her honor at which she was the speaker.

Gourley has traveled to all seven continents and met with ambassadors and diplomats around the world, but particularly in Africa. She serves as a USA Trustee on the board of The Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia.

She has received the National Conference of Christian and Jews Humanitarian Award, The J. C. Penney Company Golden Rule Award. Local awards include The Girl Scouts of America Woman of the Year Award for Volunteerism, The Byliners Club Award for Volunteerism, The High Noon Club’s Executive Woman of the Year Award. She was a finalist in The Journal Record’s Executive Woman of the Year Award. Oklahoma City University presented her and her late husband, J. Leland Gourley, with its Servant Leader Award and the Library Society Award. Oklahoma State University honored her with the OKC Sweet Success Award.

Professionally, her three-part investigative reporting series, “The Diploma Disgrace,” was widely reprinted throughout the state and received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Oklahoma Press Association and Suburban Newspapers of America. This series interested Vicki in the adult literacy problem in Oklahoma City and throughout the state. She served as President and for ten years on the board of directors of the Community Literacy Centers, Inc., leading it to the status of the premier adult literacy provider in the city, teaching over 1,000 adults to read each year. She was Governor’s representative on the Literacy Initiatives Commission.

Her other civic activities have included the boards of directors of the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Oklahoma, Lyric Theatre Board. Her volunteer activities include the Executive Committee of the Oklahoma Zoological Society, Co-Chairman of Oklahoma State University – OKC “Bring Dreams to Life,” campaign and Co-Chairman of the Nichols Hills Employees Scholarship Fund.