Journey To a City of Belonging: Virtual Keynote
This event is now completed.  The recording of the September 2020 launch City-wide event, may be seen here. More details about it, including sponsors and promotional partners, is below. To join the journey following the keynote address, please separately register your interest here, and you will be informed of opportunities in the coming weeks, months and year to connect with bridging and belonging efforts initiated by various sectors in our community.

Please join us on either September 28 or September 29 for a virtual City-wide address by john a. powell to launch a journey toward becoming a city of belonging. To join the keynote, please RSVP below to receive connection details .

In respect and in honor of holy observances on September 28, the event will be officially aired on both September 28 and September 29, from 11:30 am-1:00 pm.



john is one of the nation’s foremost public intellectuals and an internationally recognized expert in the areas of civil rights, civil liberties, housing, poverty, and democracy. He is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, a research institute that brings together scholars, community advocates, communicators, and policymakers to identify and eliminate barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society and to create transformative change toward a more equitable world. john’s work emphasizes a recognition of our shared humanity, bridging across differences, and co-creating systems and structures that are anchored in belonging rather than othering. He has introduced into the public lexicon the concepts of “othering and belonging”.

The program will also feature Nebraska basketball coach Fred Hoiberg and some of his players, and video clips from residents who are working toward building a community of inclusion and belonging.  Immediately following john’s remarks, Prof. Anna Shavers (Cline Williams Professor of Citizenship Law and former Dean at the University of Nebraska College of Law) and Dr. Jeannette Eileen Jones (Associate Professor of History & Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln) will offer reflections on the challenges and opportunities for creating cultures of bridging and belonging here in Lincoln. 

Sponsors: City of Lincoln, Malone Center, Bansal Charitable Fund, Nelnet Foundation

Promotional partners: Lincoln Public Schools, Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln Community Foundation, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Community Health Endowment, Faith Coalition of Lancaster County, Social Emergence, Awakin@Lincoln, Cause Collective, NAACP Lincoln Branch, Leadership Lincoln, Good Neighbor Community Center, Asian Cultural Center, El Centro de las Américas, the Women’s Foundation of Lincoln and Lancaster County, and CenterPointe