Lincoln Chamber of Commerce

The Lincoln Chamber of Commerce believes there is no room for discrimination of any kind in the workplace. As a community builder, we are dedicated to making intentional, actionable strides to ensure our diverse city is one of increased equity and inclusion.

We challenge you – Lincoln business leaders – to join us in our pledge of responsibility and accountability. Now is the time to use our influential voices to foster workplace environments that demand fair treatment, resources, opportunities and advancement for all.

THE PLEDGE

As business leaders dedicated to implementing change, we pledge to be:

LEADERS responsible for ensuring there are no barriers based on economic position, gender, race, creed, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or any other characteristic.

LISTENERS who recognize in order to create workplaces representative of the diversity in our community, we need to actively identify opportunities for meaningful, honest conversations to take place.

EDUCATORS committed to providing permanent policies, resources and education for our employees and ourselves on unconscious bias, equity, discrimination and diversity.

ADVOCATES who will use our positions and voices to address issues of racism, oppression and bias in both our community and place of business.

CHANGE-MAKERS united in this pledge to hold ourselves accountable as we take action to remove the systemic barriers that prevent all employees from feeling equally respected, supported and valued.

I pledge to be part of the solution; to implement practices and policies reflective of the changes we seek. We can and will do better – as business leaders, individuals and as a united community.

Dan Vokoun

Vice President

Sampson Construction

Bill Cintani

CEO

Mapes Industries

William W. Lester

President/Chief Executive Officer

Ameritas

Jordan Gonzales

Director of Alumni Engagement

Nebraska Alumni Association

Kevin Jarosz

VP - Natural Gas Operations

Black Hills Energy

Timothy Tewes

President

Nelnet, Inc.

Brad Moline

President

Allo Communications

Tom Beckius

Owner

Nebraska Brokerage

Tom Smith

Vice Chairman Wealth Mgt.

D.A. Davidson

Laurie Fraser

CEO

Doorstep Diner Catering

Amy Chesley

Dean of Continuing Education

Southeast Community College

Laura Lowe

Attorney

Laura A. Lowe, P.C.

Mike Dunlap

Executive Chairman

Nelnet

Dylan Murphy

Advisor

ReSource Pro

Brent Comstock

CEO

BCom Solutions

Denny Van Horn

Owner

Van Horn Custom Homes

Krista Stevens

Marketing Strategist

Ameritas

Piyush Srivastav

President

NAQS - Environmental Experts

Marcia White

Program Manager

Community Health Endowment of Lincoln

Clifford Troyer

Transition Counselor

Nebraska VR

Jeffrey Noordhoek

CEO

Nelnet

Jeri Winkelmann

CFO

Community Action Partnership of Lancaster & Sanders Counties

Jacqueline Stewart

Nurse Practitioner/Owner

Vitalize Health LLC

Jim Kruger

Chief Financial Officer

Nelnet, Inc.

Rebecca Ferguson

Vice President

Union Bank & Trust

Piyush Srivastav

Assist. VP, Business Banking Officer

West Gate Bank

Shelley Zaborowski

Executive Director

Nebraska Alumni Association

Meg Mikolajczyk

Deputy Director & Legal Counsel

Planned Parenthood North Central States

Janel Fricke

Practice Administrator

Dermatology Associates of Lincoln, LLC

Laura Bell

Broker/Manager

Commercial Realty Group, LLC

LG Searcey

Senior VP

Union Bank & Trust

John Laflin

Market President

Pinnacle Bank

David Brown

Managing Partner

Brown Immigration Law P.C., L.L.O.

Douglas McDaniel

Director of Human Resources

City of Lincoln & Lancaster County

William Watts

Associate Dean

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Ronnie Green

Chancellor

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Nicole Skarp

Marketing Manager

DLR Group

Gail DeBoer

CEO President

Cobalt Credit Union

Derek Vance

President

CHI Health St. Elizabeth & Nebraska Heart

John Hoppe

Chairman

Hoppe Inc.

Alexander Krynsky

Assistant Branch Manager

Cobalt Credit Union

John Hoppe

Managing Partner

Signs Now Lincoln, LLC

Lois Kriger

Universal Banker

Cobalt Credit Union

Barbara Bartle

President

Lincoln Community Foundation

Doug Hancock

Business Development

Sebek Lighting & Electronics, LLC

Jason McLaughlin

Owner

Iasan & Sebastian Studio Salon

Christie Hinrichs

President/CEO

Tabitha Health

Rhonda Page

Gift Planning Coordinator

Lincoln Community Foundation

William Mueller

Senior Partner

Mueller Robak LLC

Ryan Scheeler

President

AGR Roofing and Construction

Lyn Wineman

President : Chief Strategist

KidGlov

Darrin Good

President

Nebraska Wesleyan University

Kathleen Farrell

Dean, College of Business

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

David Graff

CEO

Hudl

Stacy Martin

President/CEO

Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska

Jason Varga

Executive Director

Cause Collective, Inc.

Kyle Murphy

VP - People & Corporate Communications

Hudl

Laura Allen

School Counselor

School District 145

Rita Bennett

President

Lincoln Education Association

Jenny Svoboda

Owner

Eucalyptus Day Spa

Bethany Barnes

Owner

Eucalyptus Day Spa

Tracy Lungrin

Director, Career Services

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Marie Troyer

HR Partner

Bosch

Amy Duval Carlson

President/General Counsel

HomeServices Title

Terry Heimes

COO

Nelnet

Lanny Boswell

Board Member

Lincoln Public Schools

Maddie Fennell

Executive Director

Nebraska State Education Association

Sara Drueke

Opportunity Passport Coordinator

Community Action

Paul Johnson

President

Paul R. Johnson Insurance Agency Inc.

Brian Hastings

President/CEO

University of Nebraska Foundation

Diane Mendenhall

VP for Gift Planning

Lincoln Community Foundation

Andy Hunzeker

CFO

Lincoln Industries

Tom Klein

Vice President

First National Bank of Omaha

Derek Bombeck

Sales Development Manager

Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau

Jami Pogue

Chief Human Resources Officer

University of Nebraska Foundation

Kevin Wailes

CEO

Lincoln Electric System

Blaine Harvey

Transition Coordinator

Nebraska VR

Micheal Q. Thompson

Regional Territory Manager

The Governance Institute, a service of NRC Health

Brad Hedrick

Regional President

Windstream

Cleveland Reeves

Principal

BVH Architecture

Steve Miller

City Planner

Clark Enersen

Todd Ogden

President

Downtown Lincoln Association

Vi See

Executive Director

Community Action

Lucas Sabalka

Chief Scientist

Ocuvera, LLC

Daniel Duncan

Executive Director

Nebraska Innovation Campus Development Corporation

Nathan Brock

Director of Human Resources

LincOne Federal Credit Union

Darci Isherwood

HR Business Partner

Agility Fuel Solutions

Dr. Karen Kassebaum

CEO

Athlete2Athlete

Kris Peterson

Leadership, Parenting, Family & Youth Coach

Leadership Harbor LLC

Linda Brown

Sponsorship Director

Pink Gorilla Events

Sherry Stevenson

Director of Human Resources

Farmers Mutual of Nebraska

Doug Durham

CEO

Don't Panic Labs

Randy Hawthorne

Executive Director

Launch Leadership

Nicole Malcolm

Supervisor

Ameritas Life Insurance

Jennifer Svoboda

Co-Owner

Big Red Vapor

Christa Yoakum

County Commissioner, District 2

Lancaster County

Deb Schorr

County Commissioner, District 3

Lancaster County

Chris Whitney

Communications Coordinator

Lincoln Chamber of Commerce

Meagan Liesveld

Executive Director

United Way of Lincoln & Lancaster County

Julie Benedict

Chief Human Resources Officer

Security First Bank

Mickaela Anders

Office/Staffing Manager

Work USA Inc.

Katie McLeese Stephenson

Executive Director

HopeSpoke

Dick Campbell

Owner

Campbell's Nursey & Garden Centers, Inc.

Leslie Huerta

Owner

Francie & Finch Bookshop

Abbi Swatsworth

Executive Director

OutNebraska

Kaylie Hogan-Schnittker

Director of Talent Strategy

Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development

Boyd Ober

President/CEO

Leadership Resources

Becky Gould

Executive Director

Nebraska Appleseed

Aakriti Agrawal

Co-Founder/Board President

Girls Code Lincoln

James Cada

Self

Robert Dyczek

HR Generalist

Security First Bank

Scott McLain

President/CEO

Garner Industries

Amy Dickerson

Managing Director

Lancaster Event Center Fairgrounds

Liz Ring Carlson

2nd VP of Corporate Communications & Community Relations

Ameritas

Rebecca Fisher

Chief of Staff

BCom Solutions

Amy Ostermeyer

VP of Human Resources

Monolith

Brent Schott

President

Swanson Russell

Russ Gronewold

President/CEO

Bryan Health

Lori & Matt Ashmore

Owners

Eagle Printing & Sign

Kirk Anderson

CEO

LinPepCo

Jessica Parde

IT Director

Ameritas

Penny Johnston

General Manager

AOI Furniture Services

Erika Jensen

Owner

The Chocolate Season

Teresa Wanser-Ernst

Co-Founder

Cultural Competence Center

Jenny Kroger

Recruiter

Monolith Materials

Will Scott

Principal

WRK

Andrew Young

Lincoln Office Lead

RSM US LLP

Tom Henning

Chairman, President & CEO

Assurity Life Insurance Co.

Randy Ernst

Co-Founder

Cultural Competence Center

Dawn Mazzie

Co-Founder

Cultural Competence Center

John Whitmer

President

ABC Electric

Gretchen Arroyo

CEO

LUXX Events LLC

Chris Hove

CEO

Nebraska Bank of Commerce

Tram Kieu

Grants Management Assistant

Cooper Foundation

Jona Raasch

COO

NRC Health

Katie Rhone

Manager, Associate Talent

NRC Health

Bridget Matthiessen

Director, Associate Resources

NRC Health

Angela Caldwell

Regional Recruitment Specialist

Lincoln Journal Star - Lincoln Jobs Recruitment Solutions

Bob Ravenscroft

Vice President

Bryan Health

Matt Harris

CEO

Arbor Day Foundation

Bryant Bone

VP/GM - Hardware

Hudl

Kathy Andersen

Delivery Manager

Hudl

Jackie Ostrowicki

Assistant VP, External Relations

University of Nebraska

Kelsey Schneider

Associate Resources Specialist

NRC Health

ACTIONABLE OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPLEMENT CHANGE

EVALUATE YOUR OPERATIONS & CREATE A PLAN

Review your policies, procedures and practices to ensure they provide opportunities for all employees, free of systemic barriers.

Evaluate the diversity of your board of directors, with the goal of establishing a board representative of the Lincoln community.

Revise your mission statement to include guiding principles specific to equity and inclusion.

Engage with those who have embraced leadership roles in local inclusion efforts to share best practices.

Create an internal committee or task force with a focus on inclusion.

ASK BETTER QUESTIONS & USE YOUR VOICE

Create a list of thoughtful questions to identify barriers to success and uncover opportunities to remove them.

Encourage your leadership team to initiate and document difficult/transparent conversations and amplify underrepresented voices.

Share feedback and career goals of underrepresented employees with key decision-makers.

INVEST IN DIVERSITY STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMS

Create permanent committees for inclusion within your business, open to all employees and set specific, trackable goals with a focus on accountability.

Engrain permanent trainings and policies into your ongoing policy and workplace culture to see long-term change.

Engage your stakeholders by including a diverse range of input in your inclusion strategies.

Invest in educators to lead educational inclusion programming for you and your employees.

EDUCATE YOUR TEAM

Coordinate educational opportunities and resources for employees regarding action plans for racial equity.

Report the findings of your policy and diversity reviews to your employees and stakeholders.

Organize group listening sessions or forums to educate, build trust and identify on initiatives for change.

Share research, literature and data analysis on racial disparities with employees, seeking recommendations on how to foster a more inclusive workplace.

CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO BUILD INCLUSION

Offer pathways to participation, providing all employees a clearly defined outline of the advancement and involvement opportunities within your organization.

Create a program to actively promote, mentor, sponsor and support underrepresented members of your teams.

Champion opportunities for employees to serve as change agents through personal research and discovery, as well as participation in committees to utilize their voices for change.

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY & DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY

Schedule regular meetings with your inclusion committees to continue moving goals from intent to impact.

Seek continuous feedback from your employees and stakeholders for ongoing accountability and improvement.

Initiate partnerships with local racial equity advocates and organizations to build relationships that further your inclusion efforts and stand in solidarity.

The Lincoln Chamber of Commerce believes there is no room for discrimination of any kind in the workplace. As a community builder, we are dedicated to making intentional, actionable strides to ensure our diverse city is one of increased equity and inclusion.

We challenge you – Lincoln business leaders – to join us in our pledge of responsibility and accountability. Now is the time to use our influential voices to foster workplace environments that demand fair treatment, resources, opportunities and advancement for all.

THE PLEDGE

As business leaders dedicated to implementing change, we pledge to be:

LEADERS responsible for ensuring there are no barriers based on economic position, gender, race, creed, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or any other characteristic.

LISTENERS who recognize in order to create workplaces representative of the diversity in our community, we need to actively identify opportunities for meaningful, honest conversations to take place.

EDUCATORS committed to providing permanent policies, resources and education for our employees and ourselves on unconscious bias, equity, discrimination and diversity.

ADVOCATES who will use our positions and voices to address issues of racism, oppression and bias in both our community and place of business.

CHANGE-MAKERS united in this pledge to hold ourselves accountable as we take action to remove the systemic barriers that prevent all employees from feeling equally respected, supported and valued.

I pledge to be part of the solution; to implement practices and policies reflective of the changes we seek. We can and will do better – as business leaders, individuals and as a united community.

Sign the Pledge

ACTIONABLE OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPLEMENT CHANGE

EVALUATE YOUR OPERATIONS & CREATE A PLAN

Review your policies, procedures and practices to ensure they provide opportunities for all employees, free of systemic barriers.

Evaluate the diversity of your board of directors, with the goal of establishing a board representative of the Lincoln community.

Revise your mission statement to include guiding principles specific to equity and inclusion.

Engage with those who have embraced leadership roles in local inclusion efforts to share best practices.

Create an internal committee or task force with a focus on inclusion.

ASK BETTER QUESTIONS & USE YOUR VOICE

Create a list of thoughtful questions to identify barriers to success and uncover opportunities to remove them.

Encourage your leadership team to initiate and document difficult/transparent conversations and amplify underrepresented voices.

Share feedback and career goals of underrepresented employees with key decision-makers.

INVEST IN DIVERSITY STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMS

Create permanent committees for inclusion within your business, open to all employees and set specific, trackable goals with a focus on accountability.

Engrain permanent trainings and policies into your ongoing policy and workplace culture to see long-term change.

Engage your stakeholders by including a diverse range of input in your inclusion strategies.

Invest in educators to lead educational inclusion programming for you and your employees.

EDUCATE YOUR TEAM

Coordinate educational opportunities and resources for employees regarding action plans for racial equity.

Report the findings of your policy and diversity reviews to your employees and stakeholders.

Organize group listening sessions or forums to educate, build trust and identify on initiatives for change.

Share research, literature and data analysis on racial disparities with employees, seeking recommendations on how to foster a more inclusive workplace.

CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO BUILD INCLUSION

Offer pathways to participation, providing all employees a clearly defined outline of the advancement and involvement opportunities within your organization.

Create a program to actively promote, mentor, sponsor and support underrepresented members of your teams.

Champion opportunities for employees to serve as change agents through personal research and discovery, as well as participation in committees to utilize their voices for change.

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY & DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY

Schedule regular meetings with your inclusion committees to continue moving goals from intent to impact.

Seek continuous feedback from your employees and stakeholders for ongoing accountability and improvement.

Initiate partnerships with local racial equity advocates and organizations to build relationships that further your inclusion efforts and stand in solidarity.

Name