Lessons Learned at the Keep Nebraska Beautiful Gathering (Blog)

Lessons Learned at the Keep Nebraska Beautiful Gathering

“Everything is About Relationships” – A Blog by Dave Forsell

I am fresh off a trip to Omaha. The Keep Nebraska Beautiful (opens in a new tab) meeting was my first state gathering as a staff member of Keep America Beautiful!

As I reflect on the time I had there, I realize that affiliate leaders take to heart the wisdom shared at the conference by one of the attendees. She said, “Everything is about relationships.”

I was feeling particularly open to that thought when I heard it. I fondly remember family (since passed) that long ago called Alma, NE (population 1,026) home. They were a lot like our Nebraska colleagues: simultaneously welcoming, authentic, and quietly determined.

Dave Forsell, SVP, Affiliate Network & Programs with Keep Omaha Beautiful Executive Director Christie Abdul-Greene.

In Omaha, Christie Abdul-Greene, the Executive Director of Keep Omaha Beautiful (opens in a new tab), took me out for coffee and brought me to the office to meet her colleagues. There I saw tools of the trade, litter grabbers, and more, stacked and stored neatly by the front door, ready for the next wave of volunteers to come borrow them for a cleanup. On a lobby wall, I saw a chalk drawing of trees, trails, and birds in a city, and the phrase “…for a healthy urban ecosystem.” Christie said, “We are playing with that phrase. I am thinking we need to add ‘no matter where you live, and that includes you!’” Art on Christie’s office wall made it clear that love was at the center of her approach to KOB’s work.

At the conference, we heard from two state senators of different parties, who engaged in friendly banter and listened carefully to one another and affiliate leaders’ ideas and concerns on subjects from extended producer responsibility to vape waste to government funding for affiliate work. Relationships were at the center of Senator Jan Hughes’ recommendations to affiliates; she encouraged us all to build connections with lawmakers “when there isn’t a problem.”

Sarah Mason and Kim Carroll Steward from Keep Lincoln-Lancaster Beautiful evaluated their programs through a new lens, and shared successes and challenges with those gathered.

Keep Lincoln-Lancaster County Beautiful (opens in a new tab) environmental health educator Sarah Mason encouraged her peers to build coalitions to address shared concerns and to “advance relationships” by having difficult conversations quietly rather than in public view…

“Everything is about relationships.”

As I was leaving the conference, Daryl Cisney, a Keep Keith County resident, Keep Nebraska Beautiful board member, and seasoned agronomist pulled me aside to say goodbye. (I had spoken the previous day about the wonders of tree planting in my time as Indianapolis’ affiliate executive director.) Daryl said with a knowing smile that tree planting and survival is a little difficult in the western panhandle of Nebraska, but that he had lent his professional expertise to the sustainability of Nebraska’s native Sand Hill rangeland.

Warmly, Daryl spoke about his relationship; this one to the land. “Dave, here in Nebraska, we are all conservationists.”

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About Keep America Beautiful®:

Keep America Beautiful®, the nation’s leading community improvement nonprofit organization, inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful® strives to End Littering, Improve Recycling, and Beautify America’s Communities. We believe everyone has a right to live in a clean, green, and beautiful community, and shares a responsibility to contribute to that vision. The organization is driven by the work and passion of 700 Keep America Beautiful® affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the collaborative support of corporate partners, social and civic service organizations, academia, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. Join us on Facebook (opens in a new tab), Instagram (opens in a new tab), Twitter (opens in a new tab), Linkedin (opens in a new tab), and YouTube (opens in a new tab). Donate and take action at kab.org.

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