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Published:  July 24, 2020

Revive Omaha welcomes Vanessa Elkins-Rogers to Omaha!

Elkins-Rogers was named the new Vice-President for Enterprise Procurement at Mutual of Omaha in 2019.

Vanessa Elkins-Rogers is an exceptional senior-level manager of global procurement. She has more than twenty-five years of successful procurement experience, and has held leadership roles in vendor, materials, and marketing management, strategic sourcing strategy, project management, supply chain, accounting and supplier diversity.

She is committed to leading the operation to profitable growth while expanding global operations and sales. She has been instrumental in transforming companies into global consulting and diversified services organizations while achieving success via leveraging their supplier network as a tool and mechanism to positively impact their bottom-line.

In May 2003, Vanessa was profiled in the “Industry Focus” of The Network Journal Magazine gaining national recognition and sparking a speaking and training career – being noted as an industry expert. As an industry leader, she is known for her vast knowledge of global procurement and her exceptional teaching ability. She regularly engages audiences at conferences and workshops nationwide on various aspects of management and procurement, including SCOPE and ProcureCon.

Throughout her career, Vanessa has held positions of leadership with such noted companies as The Coca Cola Corporation, Home Depot, Johnson Controls, Inc., and Bell South to name a few, where she has applied her expertise and knowledge of procurement. She started her procurement career with Bellsouth.net in Atlanta as Senior Manager of Procurement and Materials Management. During her tenure there she successfully recovered seven million dollars in missing inventory which resulted in an annual cost savings of five hundred ninety thousand dollars.

In other accounting, management and procurement roles, Vanessa has developed outstanding analytical, problem solving, leadership and strategic thinking skills. She offers a management style that is second to none. She has an entrepreneurial spirit as she enjoys the opportunity to develop and create solutions.

Vanessa encourages innovative thinking and exhibits receptiveness to unique approaches in problem solving and issue resolution. As a person of great integrity, she understands that communication is the key to running a successful department, and believes in honest and open communication.

In 2007, Vanessa also began her second career in education. She is a part-time professor at DeVry University in the College of Business Administration where she provides instruction primarily to graduate students with a focus on the Project Management & Supply Chain curriculum.

Vanessa is an alumnus of the well-respected Kennesaw State University where she successfully obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and a Master of Business Administration Degree with special emphasis in Executive Leadership. She has plans to complete her doctoral degree at Kennesaw’s prestigious Michael J. Coles school of Business.

While living and working in the Greater Atlanta area, Vanessa became a prominent member of the community – working with organizations such as The American Cancer Society, being appointed to the Board of Directors for the East Point Unit, The American Red Cross, The American Heart Association, Big Brother/Big Sister, and The March of Dimes. Vanessa is a phenomenal fundraiser often winning awards for her efforts and she is consistently recognized annually as a pace setter.

She served as a member of the Clark Atlanta University’s Leadership Development Board, the Governance Board of Scholars Academy and Boys-2-Men of honor. Vanessa has also attended Ben Hill UMC for over 20 years having served as a Sunday school teacher. Vanessa is a firm believer that the key to a successful team is your most valuable asset – “People”.

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Careers

David Pollock launches Code Black to bring people of color into tech

Published:  January 20, 2022

David Pollock is on a mission.  Driven by purpose and a clear vision to see his beloved community empowered, David is helping to bring African-Americans and people of color further into the tech industries.

To accomplish his goal, David has launched Code Black, a non-profit organization focused on fostering collaboration and sponsorship between Black and Latinx who are emerging and experienced professionals in technology.

He launched the organization in the midst of the pandemic which is a great example of his commitment to the cause.  He reached out to professionals in the industry and other leaders in the community to make sure he was creating something that would be of value to others.

Pollock did the work necessary to build a solid foundation.  After years of preparation, he stepped out in faith to make it a reality.

While others pulled back during the pandemic, he continued to push forward.  He is also a strong believer in collaboration and team work.  Others have joined in to support him with his mission.  It’s a beautiful thing to see, preparation meet opportunity.

David not only believes in the importance of education, he is leading by example in that area as well.  David obtained his master’s in Organizational Leadership from Bellevue University.

He is also able to speak the language of those he seeks to see empowered.  David’s tech experience and certifications consist of in IBM Cognitive Analytics (Chatbot), Grow with Google (app development), Drone software developer, Software: Airsim – Unreal Engine 4 – Watson Image Classification system, Languages: Java, C++ and Python.

Before starting Code Black, David worked 3 ½ years as a Fatherhood Coordinator and 4 ½ years as a college success advisor for students of color.  These experiences allowed him to gain additional insights on how he could better serve his own community.

After a successful career in coaching, mentoring and developing programs, David is now leading the way with others to create an organization where Black and Latinx in technology impact the very community that they live in.  His initial focus is the State of Nebraska.

Most importantly, David is a dedicated husband and father.  He and his wife are consistently engaged in work to improve their community and highly regarded in the areas of leadership development, career advancement, tech, diversity and inclusion and innovation.

David is available for community networking and for business collaboration.  You can reach David at 402-515-8865 or david1pollock@codeblackinc.com

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Shavonne Washington-Krauth inaugural Director of Culture & Inclusion at Children’s Hospital

Published:  January 19, 2022

Shavonne Washington-Krauth is the inaugural Culture and Inclusion Director for Children’s Hospital & Medical Center.

In mid-2018 Children’s Hospital & Medical Center began intensive conversations about their desire to do more focused and intentional work related to diversity and inclusion within the organization.

By July 2019, Children’s had hired its inaugural Culture and Inclusion Manager, Shavonne Washington-Krauth. Since that time, Children’s has been working to provide a more diverse and inclusive workplace experience for employees by focusing on programming, systems, and policy concepts.

They have also been working in the realm of creating a more inclusive experience for their patients and families. Due to the success and level of influence she was having in her role, Children’s promoted Shavonne to the Director of Culture and Inclusion one year after she joined the organization, and is now adding a new member to her team.

Children’s is proud of the progress made in the past 2 ½ years and looks forward to seeing how much more they will accomplish.

Ms. Washington-Krauth’s responsibilities include the creation and revision of systems, policies, opportunities, and environments in which everyone can not only work, but thrive at a more equitable rate without feeling excluded or marginalized.

She also leads the development and implementation of a culture, diversity, and inclusion strategic framework; supervision of six employee resource groups and serves as an advisor or subject matter expert on topics regarding the organization’s culture, diversity, and inclusion efforts.

Ms. Washington-Krauth holds a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, a master’s degree in health education, is a Prosci-certified Change Management Practitioner, and a trained Bridges Out of Poverty facilitator.  Washington-Krauth is also a graduate of the Empowerment Network and BCT Partners’ Redefine the Game Institute.

Shavonne is dedicated and committed to the success of her community.  She serves on the board of the Latino Center of the Midlands in South Omaha and Union for Contemporary Art in North Omaha.

She is a self-proclaimed “Air Force Brat” currently living in Omaha with her husband, two sons, two dogs, a fish, and three chickens.

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Careers

Redefine the Game celebrates graduation of 3 cohorts and launch of the 4th

In 2021, The Empowerment Network and BCT Partners completed the 3rd and started the 4th Cohort of the nationally recognized Redefine the Game Institute.

A graduation ceremony for the 2nd and 3rd cohorts was held in June of 2021. The 4th cohort held its first class in November 2021 and will finish in September 2022.

Launched in 2018, by the Empowerment Network, BCT Partners and WDB Resultants, Redefine the Game is a highly interactive, career advancement and leadership development program.

It brings together African-American professionals from all sectors and engages them in a year long development experience which helps them to prepare for the next phase of their career.

Participants have the opportunity to rediscover their passions, purpose and ground themselves by reviewing their core values. From there they complete an assessment which helps them to understand how they make decisions, ways to interact with others more effectively and provides insights on how to use their strengths to maximize individual and collective work.

Over the period of the program, the class walks through the ten game changing strategies identified in the best selling book, Black Faces in White Places, written by Dr. Randal Pinkett and Dr. Jeffrey Robinson.

Pinkett and Robinson co-facilitate Redefine the Game, along with Willie Barney of the Empowerment Network and WDB Resultants and Damita Byrd with BCT Partners. Barney and Byrd worked together to develop the vision for the the cohort program and partnered with Pinkett and Robinson to bring it to reality.

It has made a measurable impact after just three cohorts. Over 40 corporations, businesses and organizations have sent employees through the program.

“We had thought about creating a course based on our book, but didn’t get around to doing it,” said Pinkett. “Then, Willie and Damita came to us with the vision and made it happen in a very short amount of time. Now, corporations and organizations across the country are inquiring about RTG.”

Including this cohort, 125 Black professionals and community leaders in Omaha will have participated. Of those who have completed the course, 70% have been promoted on their job.

“They were already doing great work and now have earned advancement and leadership opportunities through their own abilities, relationship building and utilization of their unique skill set,” said Barney.

“Alumni tell us that RTG helps provide them with an edge and the insights they need to better navigate their environments successfully,” added Byrd.

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