UNMC/NHS has joined the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben as corporate sponsors of Youth Leadership Omaha.
YLO started as a small group project of the adult Leadership Omaha program in 1993. The organization brings together a diverse group of students to further develop their leadership skills. Each October, 40 high school sophomores are selected from the Omaha metro area. The students meet monthly for seminars, retreats and community interactions.
YLO focuses on leadership potential. The organization accepts students who already have shown leadership ability as well as those with promising leadership skills.
“The students are the age where they are starting to think about what they want to become, where they want to go to school, where they want to work,” YLO Director Kelly Roberts said. “YLO helps to encourage strong leaders to live and work in Nebraska.”
Reaching out
With YLO, UNMC has realized the opportunity to reach out to the community in yet another form.
“It’s important to develop the young people in this community,” said Ann Kraft, coordinator of community relations in UNMC’s Public Affairs department. “It’s important to be connected and be a good corporate citizen.”
Kraft is a member of the YLO Curriculum Committee. She works with nine other committee members to organize programs and seminars for the participants.
YLO also connects students with what their community has to offer. Students meet other students from across the Metro area as well as interact with the people of Omaha.
“We want to show them that we’re a community that wants to keep people here,” Roberts said. “The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce believes in building leadership.”
UNMC and NHS will sponsor the Health and Human Services Day on March 13, 2003. Roberts said the students will learn about health-care issues as well as meet with health professionals.
“It’s good to participate in the education of students in the health issues of their community,” Kraft said.
The Storz Pavilion will serve as the central meeting place on YLO seminar days. The students will travel by bus to other sites.