Expanding Leadership Pathways for the Young Voices of South Omaha

Leadership has always existed here: in the brilliance of students who balance culture, language, family, work, and ambition. It exists in the young people who show up for their community without being asked, who question inequity, who imagine something better for themselves and for those who will come after them. But vision isn’t always enough. To lead, youth need access, preparation, guidance, opportunity,  and that isn’t something every student is guaranteed. That is where Youth Activators begins.

Youth Activators is a new pilot initiative launched by the Latino Economic Development Council (LEDC), created not to reinvent leadership development but to expand access to it. Many wonderful youth leadership cohorts already exist in our city, and we are grateful for them, we need them. But opportunity does not reach everyone equally, and one organization alone cannot be responsible for shaping an entire generation of civic leaders. This program exists to open more doors, not replace the doors that already exist. Our goal is contribution, not competition. Expansion, not duplication. A wider bridge for youth who are ready to rise.

Throughout this program, Youth Activators will build skills that translate into real power: understanding identity, voice, influence, and the systems that govern their communities. Students will learn how intersectionality shapes lived experience and leadership, how networking is more than business cards but rather the art of cultivating meaningful relationships and social capital, and how power mapping can be used ethically to build alliances rather than hierarchies. They will learn not only how systems work, but how to work within them, and when needed, how to challenge them.

This journey continues in January, when youth will dive into Nebraska’s legislative process, meeting policy not as an abstract idea but as a living system that can be influenced through testimony, advocacy, and informed engagement. In March, the cohort will transition into community development, exploring the future of Plaza de la Raza and preparing to take part in its groundbreaking early in 2026. These young leaders won’t stand on the sidelines, they will stand at the center of change.

Then, in February, select students will travel to Chicago for the USHLI National Conference, fully funded, where they will join hundreds of young leaders from across the country. They will enter that space not as observers but as representatives of Nebraska, prepared to learn, network, and return home with knowledge to fuel their leadership trajectory. Opportunity of that scale is not common, but it should be. This program is one more step toward making it so.

Youth Activators is still new, still young, still unfolding, but it is already proof of what investment can do. When youth are trained, trusted, and given access, they become catalysts. One student becomes a leader. A cohort becomes a movement. And over time, a city begins to shift. We are proud of this beginning, and even more excited about what comes next. South Omaha’s future leaders are already here. We are simply helping them activate.

This is only the beginning, and we are just getting started.