The Work Is Working: Organizational Equity By Institute in Omaha’s Nonprofit Arena

This is a guest blog from Mynesha Spencer, Human Relations Strategist at All of Us Together Co. who works to advance human harmony across various professional industries by creating inclusive strategies and equitable outcomes. This blog is estimated to take 4 minutes to read.

When the Weitz Family Foundation envisioned Equity Institute, the team sought to create more than a learning experience. The goal was to build a space for honest conversation, deep reflection, collective commitment, and—most importantly—an incubator that not only inspired but also required skill application and action with respect to all forms of equity across Omaha. With All of Us Together Co.’s team tasked with curriculum design and in-person facilitation, this in-progress pilot cohort embarked on a journey that has exceeded the collection of those expectations. In addition, the Institute has challenged norms, expanded understanding, and made room for both personal and organizational transformation.

The professional composition of this group includes executive directors, artists, educators, advocates, a social worker, and an HR generalist. All participants are Omaha leaders who recognize that equity work is not an initiative, event, parade, nor party. Rather, equity work is a designed practice that, like any practice, requires cultural humility, conscious thinking, and concerted community effort. Both growth and gains have been embraced by cohort members, and it has been lovely witnessing each professional offer a teaching tool or educational resource for their fellow participants.

Equity Institute’s year-long program is only halfway through and will continue to meet professionals exactly where they are with regard to this enriching customized curriculum. The Institute has created intentional space for professional participants to explore equity from both structural and interpersonal lenses. Sessions have moved fluidly across topics such as history for context, personal and professional identity, structural power and persistence, organizational culture, equitable decision-making, and organizational transformation/process improvement.

Many highlights stand out, but a few collected include those listed below:

• Understanding Equity as an Investment, Not an Expense: All of Us Together Co. staff have guided discussions with empathy and clarity in effort to lay a foundation for organizations to move beyond interest to investment, and that investment statistically and empirically does indeed return a reward—one that can be replicated across Omaha’s nonprofit and business ecosystem.
• Practicing Invitation over Instruction as a Model for Organizational Collaboration: The enrolled professionals and their diverse representation bring perspectives that enrich the experiences of everyone in the room. However, there is a direct and designed emphasis that requires all enrolled professionals to yield to social science and behavioral research that supports the practice of inviting, not instructing, other professionals apart of their respective networks to actionize equity.
• Practical Application of Accepting that Self-Awareness is a Prerequisite for Self-Adjustment: Just as self-adjustment requires self-awareness, organizational adjustment requires organizational awareness. The Institute has afforded these professionals time to explore, examine, and eventually evaluate their organizations so that they may not only learn but also practice—testing both old and new tools, reframing internal processes, and embracing equity action within their organizations.

This professional opportunity not only enriches the mind but also enhances the modality of each professional’s ability to lead in their organizations. Thus, this year’s cohort thus far has proven successful and we appreciate the growth demonstrated by cohort members. Some early wins include:

• A healthy and honest examination of our own racial frame of reference: We know that if we can dialogue about race, then we can dialogue about anything confronting us, our respective organizations, and our country for that matter.
• Shifts in organizational practice, protocol, and policy: Transformation cannot be sustained unless it is accompanied by structural support. Revisiting hiring protocols, communication norms, and community engagement strategies have proved to be time well spent.
• A deepened sense of community: As participants found connection in their shared commitment to creating systems that work for all of us, they forged connections with one or more of their professional peers in the pilot cohort, enabling the collective commitment necessary to sustain their equity work beyond the Institute’s conclusion in Spring 2026.

The self and organizational exploration, examination, and evaluation currently in progress at the Institute is laudable. Cohort members expressed a collection of sentiments that support our evaluation of the program to-date.

One member shared,

“It was difficult to make a top choice here. I do try to do some of my own work to increase my self awareness but there were things brought up that I really haven’t thought much about, like changing my choices of where I do business in an effort to diversify and de-racialize spaces. Certainly organizational DEI is under fire in the current climate and more needed than ever, so finding ways to champion it as an investment vs. an activity is so important. Also, finding ways to have conversations about racism that are less likely to make people feel attacked or judged is crucial. Some people just stop listening if they feel they are being told they did something wrong. Finding ways to improve is more palatable—being told you’ve failed is more likely to put people’s backs up.”

Another participant reflected,

“Drafting, developing and presenting my racial autobiography has helped me discover the core of my beliefs, values, decisions, and present behaviors. I feel very likely to manage my thoughts, practices, and behaviors in my professional and personal life in order to refrain from perpetuating racism.”

A third professional commented,

“I was very impressed with how well the simulations accurately reflected inequities (and human behavior) since it required so much participation from attendees. It was very organic, which helped the illustration “land” even more so.”

These moments—quiet acknowledgments, realizations, and commitments—are the true indicators that the work is working. The question posed to all of the Weitz Family Foundation’s grantees at this time becomes: are you working or do you desire to work on transforming your organization into a more equitable version of itself? If so, standby for notifications and or announcements regarding Cohort 2 for the 2026-2027 year.

We send gratitude to the Weitz Family Foundation for investing in this work, and to the entire All of Us Together Co. team for shepherding this pilot with both compassion and accountability. Most of all, we praise the cohort members who have shown up in a brave space with open minds, open hearts, and a shared belief that equity is possible and unequivocally worth working for.