OMAHA — An effort described as an anti-brain drain program “on steroids” has been launched to identify and nurture cream-of-the-crop college talent in hopes they won’t flee Nebraska.

Called the Nebraska Leaders Program, it brings together the University of Nebraska system, Omaha-based Creighton University and a group of well-known employers.

Longtime education administrator Ken Bird was coaxed out of retirement by business leaders to kick off the “pilot” as a nonprofit. Bird is retired superintendent of Westside Community Schools in Omaha and former chief executive officer of the Avenue Scholars program.

He likened the effort to an academic version of NIL (Name, Image and Likeness), which refers to college athletes receiving compensation for their personal brand while playing and attending school.

“We’re going after top talent and trying to retain them and put them in the right spots on the team,” Bird said.

Perks Follow Participant

The pilot emerged amid a barrage of “brain gain” versus “brain drain” chatter from the floor of the Nebraska Legislature to statewide business Chambers of Commerce and local city halls. The Aksarben Foundation, a more than century-old Nebraska business organization, is among groups sounding the alarm about statewide talent and wage loss driven largely by scarcity of quality jobs and limited wage growth.

While the trend of more people leaving than moving to Nebraska has been an issue for years, state budget woes and spending priorities are among factors amplifying the discussion.

Nebraska Leaders is shaped by employers in the Omaha and Lincoln area. Talent will be chosen from freshman and undergraduate applicants at the UNL, UNO and Creighton campuses. They’ll rise out of a merit-based and interview process designed by Gallup that looks for academic and extracurricular achievements and potential. The first cohort will have about 50 students, Bird said, and will be assembled for the next school year.

Participants will be matched right away with businesses that offer paid internships, a mentor from their “executive suite,” career placement opportunities and other incentives intended to keep budding professionals rooted in Nebraska.

A retention “suitcase” will follow graduates, Bird said. He said they may be offered perks such as discounts on insurance or low-interest home loans.

Describing the initiative as a sort of internship “on steroids,” Bird said it should be “value added” and not a competitor to programs already on campuses. Most participants likely will be part of existing scholarship programs, he said.

Nebraska Leaders will not tap any public funds, Bird said. Staff time, resources and other expenses are to be covered by private donors.

“By identifying extraordinary talent early on in their collegiate careers and surrounding those students with talented faculty, mentorship, opportunity and purpose, we are creating a clear and compelling reason for our future leaders to build their careers and lives here in Nebraska,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gold, NU president.

Statewide Growth

Defining features of the program, Bird said, are investment and collaboration among the state’s top employers and partnership with both public and private university campuses. 

The Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, Creighton’s president, noted that the bulk of Creighton students come from out of state. Keeping them in Nebraska’s workforce, he said, can depend on “proactive engagement with experts in their field of interest, peer-to-peer relationship building” and an understanding before they graduate of how they can grow locally.

The program’s board of directors includes: Grant Gregory, retired global chair of Deloitte and chair of Arbor Bank; Jim Clifton, chair of Gallup; Lisa Roskens, chair and CEO of Burlington Capital; Chris Dill, CIO of Kiewit; Steve Durham, chair of Americas Strategic Holdings; Dan Kinsella, managing partner of Deloitte’s Omaha office; and Mark Quandahl of Dvorak Law Group.

Bird, the program’s interim CEO, said Nebraska Leaders is intended over time to expand statewide. It’s focused currently on the Omaha and Lincoln areas because, Bird said, that’s the base of active business recruiting. A group of up to 15 employers also is expected to grow to about 50.

Organizers hope the effort will be a “permanent engine” for state talent retention and economic growth.

“We want to get started identifying specific kids that will help build the future for our communities and state,” Bird said.

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/03/26/pilot-program-seeks-undergrad-st...