My role as the Executive Associate Athletic Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a mouthful, but every bit of it is needed.
If I could make one thing clear, I'd say my job at the University of Nebraska is not just about culture from a race perspective, gender perspective, or anything like that. I am the culture cultivator for the entire athletics department in a number of different ways.
I help with communication and figuring out ways to break down barriers to work through challenges. To put it simply, I'm a problem solver.
And I love everything about it.
My goal is to work towards maintaining a culture of inclusion throughout our athletic department for all our staff, coaches, student-athletes, and even our fans.
To create that environment, we have to put in a lot of work to gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to make people feel like they belong.
For us, it's a lot about providing opportunities to learn more about each other and to build teamwork and unity throughout our department — both inside and outside of the competitive arena.