October 2, 2024
CHI Health Center OmahaMIRRORS AND WINDOWS: LOOKING BEYOND
Leveraging My Influence
The fifth annual Conference on Opportunity, Diversity and Equity continues to drive individual and organization change through dynamic and thought-provoking educational sessions and intentional time to build relationships.
This year’s theme is Mirrors and Windows: Looking Beyond. The theme encapsulates the notion of introspection and exploration, urging participants to examine themselves and their surroundings reflectively while simultaneously fostering a curiosity to explore beyond the familiar.
Mirrors symbolize self-reflection, encouraging attendees to gain deeper insights into their strengths, weaknesses, values, and aspirations and explore how these principles manifest in their journey through diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
Windows symbolizes opportunities for exploration and discovery, inviting attendees to look beyond their immediate surroundings, embrace diversity, and seek new perspectives. By looking through these metaphorical windows, participants can expand their horizons, challenge preconceptions, and understand different cultures.
Follow #TheConferenceOMA on social.
2023 Keynote Speakers
Soledad O’Brien
Award-Winning Journalist, Entrepreneur and Host of the Weekly Syndicated Political Show Matter of Fact
Soledad O'Brien Bio
Soledad O’Brien is an award-winning documentarian, journalist, speaker, author, philanthropist, and founder of Soledad O’Brien Productions, a media production company dedicated to telling empowering and authentic stories on a range of social issues. She anchors and produces “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien,” a political magazine program syndicated in 95% of the country for Hearst Television. She is a correspondent for HBO Real Sports.
Soledad has a national impact through her speeches and books, including her critically acclaimed memoir “The Next Big Story” and “Latino in America,” and through her 1.3 million Twitter followers and half a million Instagram followers.
Soledad O’Brien Productions most recent projects include the Peabody-nominated documentary, “The Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and streams on Peacock, and the multi-part series “Black and Missing”, which won the Independent Spirit and NAACP awards and streams on HBO. Other productions have appeared on Discovery Plus, CNN, BET, PBS, and others. She also works with major foundations, like Ford, to produce impactful documentaries on topics like hunger, race and public health.
She has a presence on the op-ed pages of publications like the New York Times and Huffington Post, and gave Congressional testimony on media disinformation. She has anchored shows on CNN, MSNBC, and NBC, and reported specials for Fox, BET, A&E, Oxygen, Nat Geo, the PBS NewsHour, WebMD, and Al Jazeera America, among others.
Her work has been recognized with five Emmy awards, three George Foster Peabody Awards, and four Gracie Awards—an award which honors women in media. She has also won two Cine Awards for her work in documentary films, as well as an Alfred I. DuPont Award. In 2023 she was inducted into the Broadcast and Cable Hall of Fame.
Soledad and her husband Brad founded the PowHerful foundation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which has helped dozens of young women get to and through college and to date has connected thousands of young women with mentoring conferences.
Shalynne Jackson
Principal Consultant | Shalynne Jackson Consulting
Shalynne Jackson Bio
Shalynne Jackson serves as Founder and Principal Consultant of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) consulting firm, Shalynne Jackson Consulting. Committed to equity, she has experience implementing DEI strategies for businesses of all sizes and industries, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to public safety professionals. She has served on various boards and is currently the Diversity Chair for the Oklahoma Human Resources State Council (OKHR); serves on Schnake Turnbo Franks’ I&D Advisory Committee; and is on the board of ReMerge – a comprehensive diversion program. In 2023, Shalynne was recognized by 405 Business Magazine as a Notable DEI Leader and one of the Metro’s most influential leaders. A graduate of The University of Oklahoma, Shalynne holds a Master of Human Relations degree. Additionally, she is a qualified administrator for the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a cross-cultural assessment of intercultural competence.
2023 Breakout Speakers
2023 Sponsors
The Conference is made possible by the generous contributions of several organizations. Thank you for your support.
Interested in being a sponsor for 2024? Contact Anne Branigan with questions.
CODE LEAD PARTNER
CODE CHAMPION
ADVOCACY & ALLYSHIP SCHOLARSHIP SPONSORS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS
CORPORATE SPONSORS
Bank of America
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska
CHI Health
Children’s Nebraska
Cox
Creighton University
Edward Jones- Kara O’Connor and Matt Hooker
Farm Credit Services of America
FNBO
Habitat for Humanity of Omaha
HDR
Investors Realty
Kiewit
Lindsay Corporation
Lozier
Medical Solutions
Methodist Health System
National Indemnity
Nebraska Medicine
Northern Natural Gas Company
Olsson
PayPal
Quantum Workplace
Turner Construction
University of Nebraska Medical Center
University of Nebraska at Omaha
WoodmenLife
Commitment to Opportunity, Diversity and Equity
The Greater Omaha Chamber’s Commitment to Opportunity, Diversity and Equity (CODE) initiative works to address diversity, inclusivity, equity and access to opportunity in Greater Omaha. We are forming an employer coalition that aims to rally the business community to advance diversity and inclusion within the workplace by working collectively across organizations and sectors. All companies are encouraged to join us.
Photo and Video Release
By registering and participating in this event, you consent to the recording of your likeness, image and/or voice and authorize the Greater Omaha Chamber to use photographs, videos and audio recordings containing your likeness, image and/or voice in any medium for any purpose.
© 2017 Greater Omaha Chamber.