Omaha Women's Fund

Women & Leadership in Omaha 2013 Update

Twenty-four percent of the elected positions in Douglas County are held by females, according to an update to the Women and Leadership in Omaha report following the May 14 election.

Women are most represented on boards of education, holding 33 percent of the positions with local school boards, the state board of education, college/university boards and the Learning Community Coordinating Council. They are least represented in Nebraska state offices, with 13 percent of the positions. Women hold 19 percent of the Douglas County elected offices and 20 percent of city council and mayoral positions.

While Omaha elected its first female mayor after 156 years of men holding the position, the number of women on the Omaha school board dropped, leading to the overall decrease of 2 percent in the number of elected positions held by females.

View report.

Updates on women in other leadership positions will be released later this year.

Women & Leadership in Omaha 2011 Update

The number of women in leadership positions in the Omaha area remained relatively stable from 2009 to 2011, according to the latest update to the Women’s Fund “Women and Leadership in Omaha” report. The number of women in leadership positions in the Omaha area remained relatively stable from 2009 to 2011, according to the latest update to the Women’s Fund “Women and Leadership in Omaha” report.

Following are highlights from the 2011 findings for the Omaha area:

The number of women in elected offices increased only slightly between 2009 and 2011, from 25 percent to about 27 percent.
Of the 269 positions surveyed on appointed boards and commissions, 62 (23 percent) are held by women. This number is a slight increase from 21 percent in 2009.
Women held only 21 percent of appointed judicial positions in Douglas County, up slightly from 19 percent in 2009.
Women are better represented on non-profit boards in general. Out of 39 total boards surveyed, 352 of the 866 positions (about 41 percent) are held by women. This is an increase over 2009’s total of 39 percent.
In 2011, the Women’s Fund conducted a survey of for-profit boards in Omaha and found that women hold only 14% of board seats in some of the largest businesses in the city.

For more information on the study, download the report details:

2011 Leadership Summary
Appointed Offices
Elected Offices
Nonprofit Boards

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