- The Empowerment Network designed its summer cohorts around experiential learning, giving North Omaha youth practical skills in music, culinary arts and technology.
- Participants say the program built confidence and maturity alongside career skills — helping them figure out not just how to work, but what they want to do.
- Organizers say the goal is to prepare young people to become the next generation of employees and business owners who will help sustain Omaha's growth.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
More than 100 participants demonstrated skills in music, culinary arts and technology at the Empowerment Network Village Center's summer showcase.
More than 100 participants showed off what they learned during the summer cohorts at the Empowerment Network Village Center in North Omaha on Friday.
Organizers say the showcase is more than a presentation — it's a collaboration of growth.
Throughout the summer, interns explored career pathways, built workplace skills and gained the confidence to pursue their goals.
Jonathan Chapman, Empowerment Network vice president, said hands-on learning was central to the program's design.
"We know that our young people today, that their brains process information differently. And so it became very clear that hands on learning was really gonna be the best opportunity for them to really crystallize the concepts and learn the lessons that we were trying to provide them," Chapman said.
For A'mara Britt, the Music Cohort helped her discover her voice both as an artist and as a poet.
"It's teaching me to be mature, in a way, and how to act in a workplace, and the do's and don'ts. It's also helping me figure out, like, what I like to do," Britt said.
Britt said the response from the crowd meant a great deal to her.
"I love seeing that everybody liked the song and everybody was like encouraging me," Britt said.
The Culinary Cohort gave Rinnah Dancer practical cooking and food safety skills.
"After this, I'll be doing a lot more cooking at home, helping my mom, and probably trying new recipes," Dancer said.
In the Tech Cohort, aspiring entrepreneur Davine Conner learned what it takes to build and manage a successful business.
"You have to be really focused and like determine on if you, if you really want to create your own business, it's really, you got to be really strategic about it. Like, you have to know what you want in, like, all the marketing, the business, the money," Conner said.
Organizers say the program introduces kids to careers that will be available for years to come.
"So that they can be prepared to be the best employees, or the best business owners in our community to really help Omaha be sustained as we continue to grow through the years to come," Chapman said.
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