OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Between black young professionals in Omaha and their counterparts of other races, there’s a big difference in how they view their opportunities in the workplace.
Black young professionals here are 5 to 6 times less likely to recommend Omaha as a place to live and work than their peers of other races. They’re significantly less-satisfied with their jobs and compensation and far less likely to believe they have equal opportunities for hiring, promotion or advancement than their counterparts.
That’s according to a January survey of 675 young professionals in Omaha commissioned by the Urban League of Nebraska and the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. (About 180 of the respondents identified as black.)
It matters not just to make sure people feel comfortable in their workplaces, the survey’s organizers told the Omaha World-Herald . It matters because to keep black young professionals in Omaha, they need to feel welcomed and fulfilled.
A committee has formed with the chamber, the Urban League and business leaders that is aimed at hammering out specific objectives to improve areas where survey respondents said Omaha is lacking.
Maurice Kimsey remembers how nervous he felt around his colleagues when he began an internship at the Omaha Public Power District in 2007.
In the electric power industry, 10 percent of employees identify as black or African-American, which is slightly lower than the rate across all utilities, according to federal employment data.
Employees identifying as African-American at OPPD make up 6 percent of the workforce there. Even at such a minute portion of employees, it’s the largest minority representation there, with almost 89 percent of the OPPD workforce identifying as white.
“I was nervous because when you have different experiences, you don’t look alike or have the same viewpoints, or like the same things, your interactions (with colleagues) will be different. If you have no one you feel you can really relate to, you feel like an outcast,” said Kimsey, who is now 29 and has 10 years of experience at OPPD.
Such feelings can be problematic for young professionals as well as for employers.
As director of talent and workforce at the Greater Omaha Chamber, Sarah Moylan said it’s critical for employees - no matter their creed, color, age or gender - to feel welcome as an integral part of the local labor force.
“It is hard to hear that my friends, our friends, our young professional talent and our black young professional talent in this city are faced with these things. That is hard emotionally to hear,” Moylan said. “If there are barriers or reasons certain talent won’t choose to live and work here, we have to figure it out.”
Shonna Dorsey has an acute understanding of the study’s results both as a woman in technology - a field dominated by men in which women leave their jobs at double the rate of their male counterparts, according to a Kapor Center for Social Impact report issued in late April - and as a woman in technology who is black.
“I had challenges being the only black woman working in an all-white-male IT shop. I heard sexist comments and just things you wouldn’t want anyone to deal with,” Dorsey said of an internship and eventual four-year stint at a local packaged foods company.
But it wasn’t all bad, Dorsey said: “There were some experiences I had there that have encouraged me to grow and become more self-confident.”
The 38-year-old north Omaha native left that job and eventually co-founded Interface Web School, a web-coding program that started in 2014. The Omaha-based AIM Institute, a nonprofit focused on career development and education for the technology industry, purchased Interface in January and Dorsey now serves as the organization’s vice president of tech education.
In Omaha, where 14 percent of the population is black and nearly 75 percent is white, local black young professionals said representing a minority in the workplace can induce feelings of isolation, anxiety and discomfort. (Among the U.S. population as a whole, about 13 percent is black - so Omaha is average - but in some cities, it’s much higher: In Chicago, it’s 33 percent; in Atlanta, it’s 54 percent; in New York, it’s 26 percent.)
“I remember once thinking that Interface might be better if it were run by a white male because that is what people are used to seeing in tech,” Dorsey said.
As they work to change that perception for tech and other fields, the chamber and Urban League will no doubt take cues from companies like OPPD, where diversity and inclusion initiatives aim to follow employees through “the life cycle of an employee,” said Joyce Cooper, OPPD’s workforce development manager.
“You have to make sure when someone comes in … that you create an environment so they can contribute and they don’t just have to assimilate,” Cooper said. “There are challenges if they see the world from a different perspective but everyone on their team is the same. That isn’t always welcoming.”
To open up new perspectives in his own workplace, Kimsey founded OPPD’s African-American Network employee resource group to demonstrate to black employees at the electric utility that even though they’re underrepresented, their opinions and experiences are a valuable part of the organization’s culture.
Cooper said an overhaul of the utility’s mentoring and professional development program will reinforce that.
Other black young professionals who spoke to The World-Herald about their experiences said mentors have been a wellspring of support and inspiration. That was the case for both Dorsey and Kimsey, and the same goes for Richard Webb.
Webb, who is 29 and works in sales in the gaming and hospitality industry, said he’s found many mentors in unofficial capacities while growing up in north Omaha and while working in Omaha.
As president of the local Urban League’s Young Professionals organization, which was integral to the recent survey and study, Webb said he’s excited to bring about change for future generations of black young professionals like him.
“What we learned from the survey is a lot of people come from the outside and don’t know about Omaha, so maybe there’s an opportunity to rebrand it. We’re here not to just be checking a box,” he said. “We want to be more connected and create things where everyone feels more inclusive.”
Of course, change won’t come overnight. And in a city where black residents represent a small portion of the overall population, there exists an ever-present risk that black young professionals may flee for other cities where they feel more at home.
“You have a lot of people who are already checked out and won’t commit to a relationship or joining an organization because they’ve already decided to be gone in a year,” said Ashley Turner, content marketing specialist at jeweler Borsheims and vice president of the Urban League of Nebraska’s Young Professionals group. She’s also a member of the chamber’s Young Professionals.
But where some are turned off from the city, others are inspired to go into business for themselves: The study found that 52 percent of black young professionals surveyed aspire to own a business, compared with 25 percent of their peers of other races.
“I remember reading the survey results and thinking that if it wasn’t for Interface, I’m not sure I would’ve stayed in Omaha, just because there are so many other communities in the country that are more diverse,” Dorsey said.
Whatever the motivations for entrepreneurship among her peers, Turner said she is encouraged by the tendency.
A recent World-Herald report found that the number of small businesses owned by black proprietors has almost doubled since 2007, and more black families are earning middle and high incomes now than they were then. City leaders said that’s something to be proud of, especially considering where things used to stand.
The Omaha metro area in 2007 was home to one of the most economically disadvantaged black communities in the country: Ten years ago, the city had one of the highest black poverty rates among the largest U.S. metro areas. Five years ago, it had one of the worst metro-area unemployment rates for black people.
There still exist significant disparities between the city’s black and white residents, but things are improving on those measures and others.
And the important thing, Turner said, is that organizations like the Urban League, the chamber and major Omaha employers are acknowledging shortcomings and seeking ways to address them.
A committee made up of young professionals and board members from the Urban League of Nebraska and the chamber has formed and is meeting several times between now and October to come up with recommendations that will influence courses of action and other initiatives. The group will present initial recommendations later this year.
“If we listen to people that are affected … I definitely see this as a place that will be monumentally improved,” Turner said.
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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, https://www.omaha.com
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