UNMC and Nebraska Medicine representatives earlier this month hosted a group of more than 20 LGBTQIA+ employee resource group leaders representing nine different companies from across the Omaha area.
Entities attending included Union Pacific, Werner Enterprises, OPPD and the City of Omaha.
The meeting was to discuss the creation of a citywide ERG leadership coalition, said Nebraska Medicine’s Kari Zelenka, one of the med center representatives who organized the event.
"The vision is that this is will truly be an Omaha community asset and not tied directly to one company or another," said Zelenka, president-elect of the Nebraska Medicine/UNMC LGBTQIA+ Employee Alliance.
The group discussed creating a toolkit that can be provided to companies who may be struggling to create their own ERG.
"We want to provide templates for charters and strategic plans to give new ERGs some guidance in creating structure within their group and a roadmap for them to outline their goals," Zelenka said. "The secondary objective is basically to create a space for networking and collaboration among group members — a space where we can share ideas, collaborate on events and build each other up to succeed."
The nascent coalition is comprised of accountable, energetic and passionate leaders from across the metro area, Zelenka said. "We believe that together we can make an impact in our community that may have been difficult or impossible on our own."
Sheritta Strong, MD, UNMC's assistant vice chancellor of inclusion, applauded efforts to establish a citywide group.
"I was excited to see so many from the community and UNMC/NM in attendance, who also shared stories about the progress their organizations have made while acknowledging the work we still have to do," Dr. Strong said. "Though this was implemented during PRIDE month, the plan is to continue this support network for our campus community and beyond."
Members of the UNMC community also will be participating in Heartland Pride events in July, including the parade on July 16.
The ERG coalition currently is planning its next meeting.