NAM Presents Kids Can with Catalyst Award at Nonprofit Summit of the Midlands
The Nonprofit Association of the Midlands (NAM, www.nonprofitam.org) announced Kids Can Community Center as its 2021 Catalyst Award recipient during the organization’s 15th annual Nonprofit Summit of the Midlands on November 3. The Catalyst Award recognizes a leader or organization that has made an impact in the nonprofit community. Kids Can Community Center provides accessible, affordable, and quality childcare and out-of-school experiences to more than 1,200 children, many of whom come from low-income families.
“For more than a century, Kids Can Community Center has been a catalyst in our community by cultivating relationships with partners and leaders to advocate for the needs of children, expand access to childcare in the state of Nebraska and provide inspiring and innovative programs for families who need it most,” NAM CEO Anne Hindery said.
Through the leadership of CEO Robert Patterson, Kids Can Community Center provided academic recovery to students during pivotal moments of COVID-19 by staying open, hiring educators to provide individualized tutoring to children and adapting school-based programs to accommodate remote learning and full-day programming.
Kids Can Community Center will continue to grow into the future. The organization, which operates a South Omaha location and seven satellite sites that include five elementary school programs in North Omaha, recently broke ground on a new building to expand its capacity and programs. This will allow the organization to provide infant care for the first time, which is the most requested service from families.
More than 200 nonprofit executives, employees, board members, and volunteers in Nebraska and southwest Iowa attended the virtual Nonprofit Summit of the Midlands, which provided thought provoking sessions to connect nonprofits of all missions and sizes with ideas, best practices, and educational resources to help them make transformative change within their organizations. Keynote speaker, Dr. Atyia Martin, CEO and founder of All Aces,
Inc., offered an engaging presentation on what a resilient and equitable organizational culture looks like. Her organization provides an alternative to traditional diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firms.
The event is expected to return to its in-person format for the 16th annual Nonprofit Summit of the Midlands, which will be November 10, 2022, at the Embassy Suites Omaha-La Vista Hotel and Conference Center.
Nonprofit Association of the Midlands strengthens the collective voice, leadership, and capacity of nonprofits to enrich the quality of community life throughout Nebraska and Western Iowa. With NAM’s growing base of nonprofits, the organization is committed to: enhancing public recognition of the importance and role of the nonprofit sector; providing access to high-quality assistance and information on effective nonprofit management and practices; advocating on issues that affect the capacity of all nonprofits to address their communities’ needs; and fostering communication and cooperation among nonprofits. NAM also is recognized as the State Association for Nebraska by the National Council of Nonprofits, the nation’s largest network of nonprofits.