We are excited to announce the following individuals have agreed to join OpenSky’s Racial Equity Advisory Committee:

  • Lissette Aliaga-Linares, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Nebraska Omaha;
  • Ja Keen Fox, Program Assistant at the Weitz Family Foundation;
  • Dell Gines, Senior Community Development Advisor for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City – Omaha Office;
  • Tracy Hartman-Bradley, Board President of the Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition and Native American Specialist/Teacher at Omaha Public Schools;
  • Shelley Henderson, Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at FIRST and former Adjunct Instructor at University of Nebraska Omaha;
  • Julie Tse, Policy Coordinator at Voices for Children in Nebraska.
  • Jerry Bexten, Director of Education Initiatives for The Sherwood Foundation and a member of OpenSky’s Board of Directors; and
  • Annette Smith, who works in development with Black Dog Management in Omaha and who is a member of OpenSky’s Board of Directors.

The way state and local governments raise and spend revenue has a major effect on racial and ethnic equity, and fiscal policy can impact racial disparities. Working to ensure fiscal policies provide equal opportunity for all Nebraskans helps to promote prosperity. Members of the Racial Equity Advisory Committee will provide feedback on OpenSky research and outreach with the goal of fostering policies that eliminate racial and ethnic disparities and that improve racial and ethnic equity.

We also are thrilled to welcome Rosemary Ohles to our board of directors! Rosemary resides in Lincoln and serves as a seminar facilitator for the Council of Independent College’s Program on Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission. She also has been active in several national and area service organizations including serving on the board of directors for Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, as co-chair for the American Heart Association’s 2013 Heart Ball and as an ambassador for the Lauritzen Gardens’ Antique Show committee.

Rosemary graduated with a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and previously worked for Riggs Bank in Washington and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Rockville, Md.