Leaders with the Lincoln Journal Star and the Lincoln Community Foundation will join University of Nebraska–Lincoln Chancellor Ronnie Green for a March 17 panel discussion on the importance of inclusive leadership in the business community.

The event grows out of the university’s participation in CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, the largest chief executive officer-driven initiative of its kind in the United States. Green signed the CEO Action pledge to help make workplaces and the community more inclusive in 2018. The university is Nebraska’s first institution of higher education to join the movement.

Moderated by Sarah Bekele, news anchor and producer for Channel 4 KSNB in Hastings, the panel discussion will feature Ava Thomas, president and publisher of the Lincoln Journal Star, and Barbara Bartle, president of the Lincoln Community Foundation. The event also will feature a presentation by Helen Fagan, an award-winning leadership and diversity scholar and practitioner, who will reflect on the panel’s insights and offer action steps and tips for fighting racism, injustice and inequality.

The Zoom event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. March 17. Visit the university’s CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion webpage for more information and to register. Zoom information will be supplied to registrants on March 15.

CEO Action is intended to advance diversity and inclusion efforts in the workplace. It outlines a specific set of actions that undersigned organizations will take to create a trusting environment where all ideas are welcomed and employees feel comfortable and empowered to discuss diversity and inclusion.

Thomas has worked more than 25 years in the news industry, starting as a classified-ad taker at the Journal Star in 1995 and working her way up to company president over the next two decades. As regional group publisher for Lee Enterprises, the Journal Star’s parent company, she oversees 11 other newspapers and websites in Nebraska as well as agricultural publications and sites in 12 other states.

Bartle has 48 years of experience in fundraising, program development, public engagement and teaching. She serves on the Chancellor’s Board of Counselors for the University of Nebraska Medical Center and is a member of the Charitable Gift Planners of Nebraska and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She is District Governor Nominee for Rotary 5650 and has served on numerous nonprofit boards in Lincoln and as an ambassador for programs to China and India.

Before becoming chancellor in May 2016, Green served as Harlan Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and as Interim Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. He completed his doctoral program in animal breeding and genetics jointly from UNL and the USDA-ARS U.S. Meat Animal Research Center. He served on the animal science faculties at Texas Tech University and Colorado State University and was the national program leader for animal production research for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and executive secretary of the White House’s interagency working group on animal genomics within the National Science and Technology Council. Before returning to academia, Green was a global executive for Pfizer Animal Health’s animal genomics business.