AFRICAN AMERICAN EMPOWERMENT NETWORK INC

A PLAN FOR NORTH OMAHA & BEYOND! North Omaha 2025 Goals:
Working together to transform Omaha into a great city, thriving and prosperous, in every zip code and neighborhood.

5,000 Connected to Living Wage+ Jobs & Careers
2,000 Annual Jobs for Youth & Young Adults
250 New and/or Expanded Businesses with employees
95%+Graduation Rate/Prepared for College & Careers
2,500 New and/or Improved Housing Units
50% Participating in Neighborhood Associations/Orgs.
80% Safer and Healthier Community
2,500+ Families – Lifted out of Poverty
250,000 Annual Visitors to the N.O. Village Zone
50-65%+ Voting in Local and National Elections

Goals and strategies developed with the input of over 4,000+ residents and leaders & 4,000+ youth and young adults. Annual benchmarks have been established. The goals and strategies are reviewed and updated each year.

Entrepreneurship, Contracting and Business Districts: Revitalize Strategic Corridors
1.Revitalize key strategic corridors and targeted neighborhoods in North Omaha:
•North 24th, with focus on 24th & Lake - Build and connect economic engines for Arts, Culture, Entertainment & Business)
•Malcolm X/Adams Park
2.Launch and expand small businesses and contractors with support of entrepreneurship centers and hubs
3.Facilitate training and mentoring for small businesses and contractors, with focus on residents
4.Create/expand access to credit & capital including specific funds; grow small & med.-sized businesses
5.Work with businesses and organizations to address equity, diversity, inclusivity, promotions and wages
6.Create collective investment and ownership strategies and implement successful models (including joint ventures)

Employment and Job Training: Create Jobs and Sustainable, Higher Wage Employment
1.Link unemployed and underemployed residents in targeted geographic areas to current work opportunities (address barriers to job attainment, including transportation)
2.Bridge the gap of open jobs and future in demand industries, expanded, and subsidized (paid) job training programs; equip current residents with the necessary skills to achieve employment
3.Use incentives and development funds to recruit, launch, develop and expand businesses with higher wage jobs in North Omaha
4.Increase employment, summer and year round internships, for youth and young adults
5.Facilitate career advancement opportunities; address equity, diversity, inclusion, promotions and wages
6.Connect underemployed residents to emerging and sustainable higher wage careers; address wage gap; encourage employers to hire local residents and ex-offenders (reentry)

Education & Youth Development: Improve Educational Outcomes - Cradle to Career
1.Invest in early childhood education
2.Improve family/community engagement
3.Create excellence and equity in every neighborhood school and increase investments & alignment in high poverty schools;
4.Increase percentage of students graduating from high school prepared for careers & college

Housing, Neighborhoods & Transportation : Create Home Owners and Thriving Neighborhoods
1.Improve financial literacy; increase home ownership
2.Build/expand mixed-income neighborhoods;
3.Address housing stability: veterans, ex-offenders & others
4.Invest to address dilapidated homes, vacant lots, absentee landlord & demolition
5.Improve streets/multi-modal transportation

Safety/Violence Prevention and Justice/Prison/Reentry Reform: Reduce Violence & Incarceration
1.Expand/invest in proactive violence prevention/intervention programs
2.Expand effective community policing, accountability & justice efforts;
3.Assess/expand alternatives to detention and incarceration

Strong Families Access to Healthcare & Healthy Foods
1. Address mental & behavioral health
2. Increase access to healthy foods
3.Reduce health disparities/increase physical exercise

The Network model incorporates best practices and fresh insights identified by researching the findings from hundreds of years of African-American movements, strategies, blueprints and agenda. WE have worked hard to gather the thoughts, ideas and involvement of our community to localize, create and implement our own action plan. We have identified issues, but have focused our attention on solutions. With God directing our paths, we are making progress.

Initially designed and launched by African-Americans and North Omaha residents, the Empowerment Network collaboration now includes people of all races across the city, county, region and nation. Over 500 organizations and thousands of individuals have participated. The network model is now recognized regionally and nationally. National groups are traveling to Omaha to learn more about how they can implement similar work in their own cities.

1. Presented at the national Obama Foundation Conference and traveled with Omaha team including Step-Up Alumni.

2. Expanded our Diversity and Inclusion Program with more strategic partners and launched new initiatives with CEOs, CHROs and diversity champions

3. Facilitated and managed weekly and monthly collective impact collaborative groups. Hosted highly successful and well-attended summits on Health, Housing, Education, Employment and Job Training, Violence Prevention, Transportation and Arts, Culture and Revitalization.

4. Hosted two of our largest and most successful conferences...Rebuilding the Village Conferences and African American Leadership Conferences.

5. Expanded the Youth Entrepreneurship Program

6. Hosted another successful Striving for Success with hundreds of African American Young men and 50 black male mentors and role models from every sector

7. Hosted one of our largest and most productive Adopt A Block Summits and organized the annual events for Harmony Week.

8. Expanded Redefine the Game to over 50 total participants with cohort one and two combined. Hosted a well-attended graduation with many participants receiving promotions.

9. Served our community with one of the largest and most successful Christmas in the Village community celebrations and holiday traditions.

10. Facilitated the planning and implementation for the largest Native Omaha Days Festival in the history of the event.

11. Kept the community informed and connected through Village Connector, e-mails, social media and consistent forums and meetings.

12. Received the National Education Association MLK Memorial Award for our work with Cradle to Career, Step Up, Omaha 360 and others initiatives related to human and civil rights