After its transformation from a mostly white, middle class town in the 1980s to a community with as much diversity as Los Angeles, the Lexington community has strongly embraced its diversity, said Dr. John Hakonson, Superintendent of Lexington Public Schools, during the third installment of OpenSky’s Policy and Equity Webinar Series.

The community’s acceptance of its diversity could make it a great model for other communities as the rest of Nebraska continues to diversify, Hakonson said.

“I feel a great sense of harmony in our community,” Hakonson said. “Our community is one of the best kept secrets of the state. Our citizens buy in 100%, I believe, into supporting all our families here.”

The state’s continued investment in leveling the playing field for its increasingly diverse students is worthwhile, Hakonson said, because it will result in a well-educated, biliterate and bilingual workforce that will be a great benefit to Nebraska employers.

These employers are also embracing diversity, said Scott Moore, Senior Vice President-Corporate Relations and Chief Administrative Officer at Union Pacific, as it’s been proven that having a diverse problem-solving team increases a company’s performance and is thus good for business.

Businesses, however, are competing across the country for those diverse problem-solvers and while it might be money that lures them to Nebraska, inclusivity in the community is what will make them stay, he said. If people don’t feel the community is welcoming, Nebraska is going to struggle to retain talented people, Moore said.

Panelist Miguel Estevez, a licensed mental health provider with Friendship House in Grand Island, reflected Moore’s comments, noting that he has questioned whether Nebraska is where he wants to be because, while he understands he fills a great need by being a bilingual counselor in his increasingly diverse city, he doesn’t always feel welcome.

“Even I am contemplating, how long can I stay in Nebraska?” Estevez said.

Estevez and Moore both said that increased conversations regarding race and ethnic equity are needed to create communities where talented, diverse workforces can thrive. Estevez called on churches and other organizations to take the lead on starting such discussions in their communities.

Companies and businesses can help move the equity needle by ensuring that their white male employees — with whom resistance to diversity efforts sometimes arises — are engaged in such conversations, Moore said. UP is presently examining a John Deere initiative, in which the tractor company has deliberately targeted its white male population in its diversity conversation, to see if the initiative can be replicated.

“You have to go to the heart of the matter and open those minds and talk through it,” Moore said. “You have to find ways to communicate how it matters to people. There are some who will resist it all the way through. … But the one thing about Nebraska Nice, most Nebraskans will listen and can find an ‘ah-ha’ moment to advance the ball for themselves on their personal journey.”

You can watch a recording of the webinar here.

Also, if you haven’t done so already, you can still register for the remaining webinar in our Policy and Equity Series, which will be held next Wednesday at 10 a.m. The webinar, which will be moderated by Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha, will chart a path forward, focusing on policy choices that would help unravel past harms and create a more equitable future. The webinar discussion will feature:

  • Kenny McMorris, Chief Executive Office of Charles Drew Health Center, Inc.
  • Dr. Mark Foxall, Community Service Associate at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and former Director of the Douglas County Corrections Department;
  • Dell Gines, Senior Community Development Advisor for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City; and
  • Micky Devitt, Legal and Policy Coordinator at the Heartland Workers Center.

More about this webinar will be published soon.

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