NEXTEP: A PEOPLE FIRST COMMITMENT

For its nearly three decades of existence, Nextep has prided itself on its people-first commitment.

That mantra has extended both to its employees as well as to the communities it serves in the Norman, Oklahoma area and beyond. For years, Nextep employees gave back in myriad ways, often on their own time and their own accord.

Nextep Founder, President and CEO Brian Fayak said he was proud of his selfless team, but also said he faced a conundrum: the company had no way to measure the impact they were having in their communities.

“If you don’t measure it and have some kind of goal and budget, how do you make sure it gets done consistently and done in the best way possible?” Fayak asked. “Basically, how do we make sure we’re measuring time and money and have a well-rounded program to positively affect our corporate culture?”

So, after some thinking, the company in 2018 launched the Nextep Charitable Foundation as a way to have a coordinated and measured way to give back in the ways they had always done.

The foundation has raised hundreds thousands of dollars for area organizations, but Fayak said just as importantly, employees have put in countless hours of their time to lend personal expertises to causes they are passionate about.

The Oklahoma City Police Department Youth Leadership Academy makes a presentation to the Nextep Gives Back Committee earlier this year. The group has become a close partner for Nextep to support.

On top of organized quarterly foundation volunteering efforts, Nextep employees are each given eight hours of paid time to volunteer on their own, which is used for everything from coaching sports teams to school activity volunteering to leading local scout groups. In one year alone, they dedicated more than 1,600 volunteer hours to causes of their choice.

“Everyone thinks of charitable giving as giving money,” Fayak said. “But there’s definitely the other side of giving time. We feel like part of our culture is making people better people and making people feel better about themselves.”

The foundation’s initiatives are spearheaded by the Nextep Gives Back Committee that is composed of employees both at its Oklahoma headquarters and those who work remotely across the country who volunteer in the communities where they live and work. The committee, in tandem with company leadership, crafts a list of charities to target for the year.

Led by Nextep Director of Risk Management and Legal Compliance Hank Johnson, the committee also includes six subcommittees that work on specific projects throughout the year: Equity Council, Future Philanthropists, Make-a-Wish, Nextep Gives Back Week, Corporate Conference and Service Hours. Each team volunteers with the group they’ve chosen, completes a project for the organization and makes a monetary donation funded by the foundation.

Not long after the 2018 foundation launch, Nextep joined the Pledge 1% corporate philanthropy program where companies donate 1% of its product, profit or employee time to improve communities. As part of its pledge, Nextep committed to achieving all three goals: 1,000 community service hours, $100,000 in charitable donations to organizations in need and free services to select nonprofits and startups.

It was another way to provide the tracking structure and measurability Fayak had longed for.

“It’s a big piece of who we are and it will be for years to come,” Nextep Chief Operating Officer Melissa Grimes said of the foundation. “It’s important not only to Brian and the leaders of our organization, but to our employees as well.”

There is no singular focus for Nextep’s efforts, though a guiding principle is to target charities that help children and single mothers. Most importantly, the team looks for a diverse swath of charitable recipients to help different groups in need.

For 2025, the team is focused on several partner organizations, including The Beacon Project, an organization that provides food and other resources to local teens in need. The Nextep team filled and gave away 80 boxes of food to high school students in need this past February.

The Nextep Gives Back Committee volunteers at The Beacon Project, a Norman organization that provides food and other resources to local teens in need. The team filled 80 boxes that were given away in February to teens in need.

And each year, Nextep works with the local Make-a-Wish Foundation chapter to support a child’s wish — but this year is especially special. The recipient is a connection of a Nextep employee, and to honor them, Nextep is throwing a party at the company office with the theme of her choice.

Over the years, the foundation has continued to expand the number of organizations it has reached: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma, Meals on Wheels, the Houston Food Bank, United Way and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to name a few. Employees have also forged close ties with the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Youth Leadership Academy, which mentors select high-achieving students.

Fayak said that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a greater need and demand to support mental health initiatives, including The Virtue Center, an addiction treatment and mental health facility in Norman. In 2021, the foundation donated $30,000 to the nonprofit to build a new outdoor therapy space, staying true to its commitment to its own employees to stay mentally healthy.

To ensure Nextep’s charitable efforts continue into the next generation, the company launched the Future Philanthropists program for the children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews of Nextep employees. Each spring and fall, the children color a picture and in return the foundation sends a $50 donation to the organization of the child’s choice.

“It was started initially to get children of employees involved,” Grimes said. “And it’s helped create pride within Nextep’s future philanthropists.”