Welcoming Week 2025: Stories We Share
Welcoming Week: September 12-21 and beyond!
Every year, in communities across Nebraska and across the country and globe, community members host a variety of learning, celebration, arts, culture, and other events during and beyond Welcoming Week!
Welcoming Week is a meaningful time to connect with both new and longtime neighbors, celebrate diverse cultures, and embrace the universal value of inclusion – because our communities are strongest when everyone feels they belong. This year’s Welcoming Week theme “Stories We Share” aims to celebrate differences and spot what we have in common through the Stories We Share.
During Welcoming Week, bring your community together around the stories we share: stories that connect us and make us stronger. By sharing stories, we build understanding. Through that understanding, we shape what’s next. Our future’s calling us to imagine what we can achieve when we listen and learn from one another.
Here’s how to participate & plan your event:
Access the Welcoming Week Toolkit! This toolkit contains resources and guidance to support you in planning and promoting Welcoming Week events. You can find social media tips and assets, media relations support, logos and other visuals, event planning best practices and event examples, as well as information on this year’s theme: Stories We Share!
Let us know your plans for local events, so we can add them to the Nebraska Welcoming Week Calendar! (Email us: egarciamendez@neappleseed.org & cyoakum@neappleseed.org.) Nebraskans are hosting cultural performances, learning events, festivals and parades, and sharing food and stories of belonging and more! Also you may add your events to the Welcoming America map here! Keep up to date with this calendar to see events in communities across the state and country be added as Welcoming Week approaches!
Join a virtual event or participate in a Welcoming Week event outside Nebraska if you are traveling – Welcoming Week is being celebrated around the world!
Print a Welcomer sign for your office/business, post on social media, or use it during your next video call!
Engage on social media! Share your photos and experiences with welcoming on social media using the hashtag “#WelcomingWeek2025”. Follow Nebraska Is Home and Welcoming America on Facebook.
We are here to help! Remember to reach out to Eric or Christa with any questions or thought partnership you may need in your planning!
Join us for the 11th-Annual Welcoming Convening Series – Bridging to Belonging!
We hope to see you at our next session of this year’s 11th-annual (virtual) statewide welcoming convening series, where we’ll share ideas and inspiration for community inclusion efforts throughout the year!
Session 2: Authentic Allyship in Community
Wednesday, July 9th, 10 – 11:30 AM CT (9 – 10:30 AM MT)
Come learn about how you can show up as an authentic ally in your community. Many of us have different skills and comfort levels. Lean into your skills and comfort level and care for the community. This training will be led by Kimara Snipes!
Kimara is the creator of the Authentic Allyship training series, which supports individuals and institutions in moving beyond performative inclusion toward meaningful, values-based action. Her facilitation style is rooted in asset-based community development, cultural humility, and the belief that storytelling is a tool for transformation.
(Zoom link to join will be sent to your email address after registration)
Kimara Snipes
Kimara Snipes is a respected civic leader, trainer, and community strategist with two decades of experience advancing equity, neighborhood power, and inclusive public engagement. She currently serves as Executive Director of One Omaha, a nonprofit organization that empowers residents to lead where they live, strengthening civic infrastructure through leadership development, grassroots grantmaking, and public engagement strategies.
Born in North Omaha and raised in South Omaha, Kimara brings a citywide perspective shaped by lived experience across communities. A former candidate for mayor, she also serves as Vice President of the Omaha Public Schools Board of Education, where she champions educational equity and student voice. Her deep relationships, paired with her ability to navigate systems from grassroots to government, make her a trusted advocate and connector.
Save these dates! More information on these sessions to come!
Session 3: Wellness through Indigenous and Immigrant Wisdom
- Wednesday, August 13th, 7 – 8:30 PM CT (6 – 7:30 PM MT)(Evening Session)
Session 4: Your Silence Hurts – Disrupting Bias
- Wednesday, September 10th, 10 – 11:30 AM CT (9 – 10:30 AM MT)
Please let us know what you need to be able to participate!
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that allow all participants to engage fully. To request an accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, please contact Christa Yoakum (402-438-8853 x114, cyoakum@neappleseed.org) or Eric Garcia-Mendez (402-438-8853 x113, egarciamendez@neappleseed.org). We will try our best to accommodate requests.