April 2022 Newsletter
Building Connections, Collaborations and Communication
STEM Community Connect
Thank you to everyone that attended the OSE Community Connect: STEM Happy Hour on April 5th. There were 65 attendees at the event spanning all sectors including business, education, nonprofit, government and community organizations. This event focused on creating connections, communication and collaboration in order to build engagement in our STEM community. Tony Veland, AIM Institute, and Jim Collison, Gallup, highlighted the STEM Community Platform, and how 
it serves as a critical piece in leveraging business and education expertise to close the talent gap.
We thank our events sponsors, Clarkson College, COX Business, Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, UNO STEM TRAIL Center, Greater Omaha Chamber, 7X24 Exchange, AIM Institute, Avenue Scholars, and BVH Architecture for being a part of this shared opportunity to grow our talent and assure Omaha remains a vibrant STEM Community.
We saw firsthand the generosity of those who attended as part of the Clarkson Challenge in supporting the expansion of the platform. The STEM Community Platform, created in connection and collaboration with AIM Institute and presented by COX Business, is creating a more robust STEM community full of equitable and accessible educational resources. The challenge is still on, so there’s still time to show your support! If you’d like to make a donation to the Omaha STEM Ecosystem’s STEM Community Platform, please visit https://omahastem.com/donate/ or scan the QR code in the photo. We’d like to extend a huge thank you and shout out to Clarkson College for matching any donations made, up to $5,000.
Professional Development
Career growth is an essential tool for educators and professionals. Professional development is learning new skills and information to help you grow and succeed personally and professionally. Many organizations, local, regional, and national, offer professional development opportunities to help ensure that their knowledge and skills stay relevant. The STEM Community Platform (SCP) has allowed community partners to come together to ensure access and equity in education for all students, educators and professionals.
We invite you to participate, by uploading your programs, resources, and training opportunities for professionals and teachers to the SCP. The SCP is an online resource guide of information and area events about STEM. Our community offers hundreds of STEM programs, events, and resources including programs for professionals and educators.
It’s easy to upload your information: https://stemplatform.aiminstitute.org/
Featured Founder
We are grateful to have the Nebraska Healthcare Collaborative, powered by CyncHealth, as a Founder for the OSE. The Nebraska Healthcare Collaborative (NHC) is focused on building a health data competent workforce promoting brain gain in the Midwest. The NHC does this by engaging learners from multiple professions in academic projects with the CyncHealth data utilities. The NHC partners across the community including the OSE to build a health data competent workforce for today and tomorrow. For more about CyncHealth, visit their website.
City Nature Challenge
Join Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium, April 29 to may 2 as they unite forces to identify and count plants and animals that live among us during the City Nature Challenge. The City Nature Challenge is an annual, global community science competition to document urban biodiversity. Click the link to learn more about City Nature Challenge and to stay up to date with all the events.
Join our efforts to ensure five more years of STEM excellence and innovation. Your time, talent and treasure will help move our work forward as we transform Omaha into a robust STEM community where our talent pipeline can grow.
From all of us at the Omaha STEM Ecosystem, thank you for your continued support in making STEM Learning and STEM careers a priority in the Omaha area!
Julie Sigmon, Director of the Omaha STEM Ecosystem
