By Elise Gaines OMAHA, Neb. – For more than a decade, the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center (CEC) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha has been home to local nonprofits and organizations working to strengthen the Omaha community. Among them is Emerging Ladies Academy (ELA), founded by Tiffany Gamble, which empowers Black girls and women in STEM and technology, expanding its reach with the help of the CEC’s collaborative space.
Gamble founded ELA to provide resources and opportunities to marginalized communities. Since joining the CEC, ELA has grown beyond Omaha. “We’re even getting interns, expanding our programming, looking at how we can engage programming with another program on the campus,” Gamble said. Her efforts have gone international, helping communities in Ghana, with hopes to expand to other locations.
Gamble said being in a shared space with other organizations invites collaboration. “I have been collaborating with several of the organizations since coming here two years ago. It has been such an honor to be able to collaborate with other organizations that we may not have even known about,” she said.
The CEC, dedicated in 2014 and named after Omaha community leader Barbara Weitz, was built to bridge the gap between the university and the Omaha community. The CEC offers a range of organizations dedicated to helping the Omaha community through volunteer opportunities, resources and partnerships.
Groups like Identity Preparatory Academy, which gives 4th- through 8th-grade girls in North Omaha an education that challenges them to feel more grounded in their culture, and Learning for All, which provides free English and GED classes to empower adults through education, are among those that call the CEC home. The building offers a range of services and organizations to connect with that provide resources for the Omaha community.
The CEC hosts events throughout the year to connect UNO students and the Omaha community with organizations such as 60 Minutes of Service, Engaged & Empowered: Civil Discourse (Purple Screening) and the Pitch4Progress Competition.
For Gamble, the space represents more than collaboration — it represents a community in action. “Coming here gives us an opportunity to engage with one another, to grow together, to support one another and also give back to the university. And in turn, the university gives back to us as well,” she said.
To learn more or get involved, visit unomaha.edu/cec/.
Leave feedback about this