Emcee Chris Kovi welcomes guests to the 2018 AIM Tech Celebration.
The uplifting evening was made possible by generous sponsorships and donations from the local community, and presenting sponsor Cox Business.
Comedian Chris Kovi emceed the evening, and Omaha Street Percussion made a surprise appearance to warm up the crowd. In total, nine awards were handed out to individuals and companies who have made outstanding achievements in tech over the last year.
Omaha Street Percussion performs at the 2018 AIM Tech Celebration.
The evening also acted as AIM’s fundraising gala to support their Brain Exchange program, which serves traditionally underrepresented youth in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) fields.
“Our community leaders have identified a shortage of more than 2,500 tech workers which, if not filled, will have an estimated negative economic impact of more than $102 million,” said Scott Rowe, Director of Digital Innovation at AIM. “Now, more than ever, AIM needs support to meet the needs of the community to provide the programming required to see Omaha become the thriving community that so many of us envision and can be seen on the horizon.”
The Brain Exchange helps fill that future need with its youth-focused programming.
“From robotics to programming to digital art, these programs cover all aspects of STEAM,” said Rowe. “Our free programs are designed to ignite a passion for tech and provide youth with future upward mobility, regardless of their economic background and current access to technology.”
Nancy Williams, AIM Board member and President at No More Empty Pots, recalled her time working at the Boys and Girls Club of the Midlands and said AIM brought them the opportunity for kids to learn about and work with robotics.
“What AIM does really does work,” said Williams.
Award winners came to the stage one-by-one and thanked family and colleagues for supporting their journeys through the tech world.
Emily Kenney, recipient of the college tech student award, thanked her colleagues at Mutual of Omaha, where she interned and is now an applications developer.
“Very few things are done by one person, and this is no exception,” said Kenney. “Being recognized by AIM is a true honor.”
“I’d be lying if I said I do everything I do alone,” said Guillermo Rosas, College Tech Education winner, and instructor at Metropolitan Community College. “I’m fortunate to work with wonderful people who support me.”
Nichole Niebur, winner of the K-12 Tech Educator Award, talked about the importance of creating opportunities.
“I feel really passionate about tech education,” said Niebur. “I’ve worked hard to make sure Burke students have had those opportunities, and that those opportunities are open to students of diverse backgrounds.”
The Vanguard Award winner Jay Garren also talked about the importance of creating paths for the next generation of leaders.
“Find that person and help them out,” said Garren. “I [have been] a very big fan of AIM, for many years. The number of lives they’ve affected is ridiculously large. It’s why AIM is such an icon in Omaha.”
2018 Tech Celebration Winners
2018 Tech Celebration Winners (Mike Wolf not pictured)
The Vanguard – Raymond (Jay) Garren
High School Tech Student – Yash Fichadia
College Tech Student – Emily Kenney
High School Tech Educator – Nichole Niebur
College Tech Educator – Guillermo Rosas
Tech Innovator – Mike Wolf
Tech Leader – Gautham Pallapa
Exemplary High Growth Business – Buildertrend
Exemplary Enterprise Business – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska
––
The 2018 AIM Tech Celebration was made possible by presenting sponsor Cox Business.
For more than five years, AIM and the Association of Information Professionals in Omaha have partnered to award $5,000 of scholarship funds to promising college students pursuing careers in tech.
The 2018 scholarship winners will be recognized this Thursday at the annual AIM Tech Celebration, with their names displayed at the gala.
The students are awarded amounts up to $1,000, depending on factors around the strength of their application.
Applications for next year’s scholarships are due in June, and winners are announced shortly after. For more information, please visit the AITP Omaha website.
The 2018 winners whose names will be displayed at the Tech Celebration are:
(Photo: Project 18 organizers announce preliminary results at DoSpace.)
OMAHA — Preliminary results of the Project 18 workforce survey show that many women in Omaha tech and tech-adjacent jobs say that gender has been a factor in negative workplace experiences like missing out on raises and promotions, and in some cases, being taken less seriously in their careers.
The survey was distributed in May. Organizers said almost 800 people started the survey, with 226 people completing it. It asked men and women whether they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements about workplace culture, advancement opportunities, benefits and work-life balance.
The full results of the survey are expected to be released in early 2019.
Survey organizers released the results of 10 statements that they categorized as “Strengths” and “Opportunities.” The five “Opportunities” statements showed areas where men and women’s workplace experiences differed widely.
For example, 27 percent of women said they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that “I believe my gender has played a role a role in my missing out on a raise, promotion or a chance to get ahead.” 90 percent of men disagreed.
The implication is that a significant majority of women surveyed believe gender has cost them advancement opportunities.
35 percent of women surveyed disagreed that “My gender will make it harder for me to get a raise, promotion, or get ahead at my company.” Again, 90 percent of men disagreed.
(Graphic courtesy Project 18.)
“There are a few statistics here that really show some very deep differences in how men and women perceive opportunity,” said Project 18 organizer Rebecca Stavick. “Especially in terms of how their gender may affect their opportunities for raises and promotions, or if their gender has played a role in possibly missing those opportunities. I think that that’s something we should really take a close look at, because the difference there is pretty large.”
Stavick said it will be important to do more research on the mobility of men and women in the Omaha tech workforce. She says existing research on women in the Omaha workforce shows gender does play a big role in whether or not one has the opportunity to be promoted — but there’s a need for more.
“Further research on this issue needs to be done at the local level in order to support a healthy workplace for everyone,” said Stavick.
The five “Strengths” statements showed areas that a majority of both men and women agreed on.
For example, 87.5 percent of women agreed with the statement “My co-workers were accommodating and supportive upon my return from maternity/paternity leave.” (85.7 percent of men agreed with the statement.)
(Graphic courtesy Project 18.)
“It’s clear that those things that we’re really good at don’t really run along gender lines,” said Stavick. “Those strengths, I think, need to be applauded, because the levels of engagement and support that our workers feel across the city in tech and tech-adjacent roles I think first off needs to be really recognized.”
Project 18 is a movement to make Omaha the most women-friendly tech community in the United States, and the survey was part of an effort to quantify its success.
While research exists more broadly about women’s experiences in the Omaha workforce, the Project 18 Survey was the first effort to document women’s experiences here in tech and tech-adjacent roles.
One of the next steps will be to compare Omaha to comparably-sized cities.
“Ideally, we will do a robust survey on this every single year. Over time, if we can get data from peer cities that will show us how we’re doing in comparison, that’s gonna be even more valuable than national survey data,” said Stavick.
The ultimate goal is to attract and retain tech talent.
“Because if you’re a woman in tech in Omaha, and your work environment is not great, and the culture sucks, and you’re not moving up, why wouldn’t you move to Denver or move to Kansas City? There wouldn’t be a reason to stay here,” said Stavick. “And so if we can find out more about those things, we can start to turn that around and just start really start to be more strategic about stopping brain drain.”
For more information on Project 18, click here.
Regional response to Prosper Omaha 2.0, a strategic economic development campaign designed to fast track Greater Omaha’s preferred future, has raised more than $18 million in business pledges toward the initiative’s $32 million goal – nine months after launching the six-county initiative.
“Business is booming in Greater Omaha,” said David G. Brown, president and CEO, Greater Omaha Chamber. “Current 2018 capital investment commitments exceed $1.3 billion, and more than 1600 jobs have been created so far this year. This is truly a place where everyone can prosper.”
Greater Omaha is a No. 1 ranked up-and-coming-tech hotspot, the No. 1 Best City for College Grads to Start their Careers in 2018 and Time magazine’s 2017 No. 3 Most Up-and-Coming City in America. The community has also been recognized for its “We Don’t Coast” attitude, and named America’s No. 2 Best Small City.
Greater Omaha is home to more than 30 communities and nearly 1 million people, with a youthful population (more than 40 percent are age 24 or younger), low cost of living and steady economic growth that outpaces the nation.
A five-year aspirational plan that accelerates a people/place/business-growth model, Prosper Omaha 2.0 is transforming a region where annual median income growth (3.4 percent in 2017) already outpaces the national growth rate of 2.6 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau; while higher education opportunities increasingly draw students to what Ziprecruiter calls the “No. 1 best city for college grads to start their careers in 2018.”
“High median salaries and low unemployment are hallmarks of Greater Omaha,” said Mikaela Borecky, senior director, fund development, Greater Omaha Chamber. “We have such gratitude to the organizations contributing to our collective momentum, and can’t wait to catalyze the region for ever-more explosive growth.”
The inaugural Prosper Omaha strategy launched in 2014, and produced nearly 300 landed projects, grew $4.2 billion in capital investment and created more than 13,000 jobs – thanks to $25.9 million in support from 300 investors.
