Great turnout today for the North Omaha Political Convention, with conversations about action on issues like voter suppression, gerrymandering, and criminal justice reform. I was honored to take the stage to talk about my priorities of high-quality public education, access to healthcare, and ensuring everyone has representation in the state legislature.

Many young professionals and creatives are here because they recognize the potential in our increasing diversity--both in culture and industry--and see Nebraska as the best setting for their own story. The Midwest is full of good people. We are hard workers, we are generous with our time and our financial resources, we are humble and willing to learn. It’s important for business leaders like me to use their platforms to advocate for policies that give all people equality of opportunity in states like Nebraska, where discrimination against LGBT+ individuals continues to give them unequal access to the law. Where we’re regularly in the news for our embarrassingly unprecedented discrimination against Latinos. When our city appears in newsmagazine lists with titles like “Worst Places to be Black.” This stuff doesn’t make Omaha look too attractive, either to young professionals we want to stay here, or to the companies we want to attract as a city.

We can combat this by electing policymakers who recognize how much our social policies in Nebraska influence our economic strength and sustainability. If we want to have a strong workforce, if we want to have diversity of opportunity and representation of lots of different voices to make our state a stronger player on the world stage, we have to be a place where people can see themselves putting down roots. We have to be a place where people of all ages think, “Yes, this is somewhere where I can really pursue and fulfill my dreams.”

Thank you to the organizers of the North Omaha Political Convention for a very successful and motivational event. In 2018, we've all got to vote!

April 14, 2008