Women hold up half the sky, the proverb says, but who holds up the women? 

by Charlyne Berens

In Lincoln, groups like Ember, Inspire Lincoln, the Echo Collective, RISE — and the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce — offer moral and practical support to women from all walks of life, especially those pursuing business careers. 

Ember Society

Alicia Reisinger employs 22 people at Wax Buffalo. The wax candles they create are for sale at a shop on O Street and at a location in College View, which also includes a cocktail bar. In 2016, a few years after she began producing the candles, Reisinger said she “realized you can’t run a small business without the people around you — especially women.” So she threw a party for all her female friends to thank them for their support and gave them all T-shirts that designated them as a ‘Girl Gang.’

The shirts attracted attention, and other women asked how to get involved. “They needed to come together and talk about what we’re all going through,” Reisinger said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Reisinger launched an online networking platform. After the epidemic, she started offering more in-person events: a networking coffee once a month and a cocktail gathering once a month. In 2022, she changed the group’s name to the Ember Society.

Reisinger said some friends worked with her to find the new name. “What we loved about ‘Ember’ is that every person has a spark, and you’re set on fire when surrounded by like-minded humans,” she said. “The fire gets bigger through our work with each other. And then we can set the world on fire.” 

The group’s mission remains the same: women joining together as a collective and helping each other ignite their dreams. “What’s really cool,” Reisinger said, “is that, as we come together, people use their own skills or knowledge” to help their friends meet their goals.

Ember’s website provides information about membership and events, Reisinger said, including the monthly meet-ups where people can learn more about the group. www.theembersociety.com

She said Ember remains small enough that all the members get to know each other well. “It feels like a really cool group of friends you didn’t know you needed — and now you don’t know how you’d live without them.”

Inspire: Celebrating Women Leadership in Lincoln

In 2015, Ava Thomas was at a Lincoln Chamber of Commerce board meeting with “a dozen remarkable women who were leading in various areas: business, philanthropy, advertising, nonprofits and more,” she said. She was so impressed by the talent surrounding her that she thought it was time Lincoln honored women’s leadership through a significant event. 

She talked with several women at the Lincoln Journal Star, where Thomas is president and publisher. “What if we would create an event to honor women’s leadership here in Lincoln?” she asked. The answer was Inspire Lincoln. Inspirelincoln.com

In the ensuing years, Inspire has celebrated more than 300 Lincoln women who are leaders in government, philanthropy, health care, education, and entrepreneurship — a total of 13 award categories, including a special award for a young leader and the Founders Award, which recognizes someone who has led a specific project or event to benefit women in the Lincoln area. 

Inspire also presents the overall Woman of the Year award. Past recipients include JoAnn Martin, Alice Dittman, Angie Muhleisen, and the 2024 winner, Dr. Mae Colleen Jones, whose award was presented posthumously.  

Inspire, working with Union Bank and Trust, awards scholarships to high school or college students who have contributed to the community.

In addition to the annual awards program at the Pinnacle Bank Arena, Inspire holds regular networking events for women and a VIP honor event each year for award finalists and winners. Thomas said hundreds of people are nominated for the awards, and they are invited to come together and learn to know each other.

Thomas said Inspire’s goal is to shine a spotlight on inspiring women to Inspire even more people, “the trailblazers, the visionaries, the pioneers.” Inspire wants to “honor women who are the sung and unsung heroes,” she said. 

The same year she was inspired to create INSPIRE, Thomas was also instrumental in forming a Lincoln chapter of the national organization, 100s of Women Who Care. The local group “was started by a group of women who wanted to make a difference in Lincoln,” Thomas said.

A local 100s of Men Who Care had been founded a few months earlier, and AshLea Allberry and Brett Ebert thought women should have a similar organization in Lincoln. So, they brought together about a dozen women from different businesses and backgrounds, different ages and demographics, Thomas said.

She said growth was organic and viral, with each original group member inviting ten friends and those people inviting more friends. Two hundred women attended the very first event.

Thomas said the group’s aim is simple. They bring 100 women together every quarter for a social and networking gathering. At the end of the event, each person writes a $100 check to a selected charity or cause, with a goal of $10,000 per event — with no administration, overhead, or other expenses. Instead, all of the money goes to the designated charity. To date, nearly $300,000 has been donated, Thomas said.

Today, Thomas said that about 500 people are part of the group, although not all attend every quarter. “It’s not a membership model,” she said. “You come and write a check when you can.” Many women are in business, but others work for nonprofits or are teachers, homemakers, or healthcare workers. “It’s a very wide range.”

The group’s gatherings — 90-minute cocktail hours — are held at or sponsored by local banks such as Cornhusker, Five Points, and Union, as well as businesses like Speedway Motors, Runza, HUDL, and others. 

Attendees nominate a local nonprofit to receive the quarterly donations and give three-minute presentations promoting that nominee. Those in attendance vote for their choice. 

Thomas said the nominations process helps raise awareness of some low-profile groups. She added that “often we write more than one check because all three are deserving.” 

Some beneficiaries have included The Bridge Behavioral Health, the Lincoln Diaper Bank, the Foster Care Closet, the Child Advocacy Center, and the Poverty Impact Network. ECHO Collective was the most recent recipient, and Legal Aid of Nebraska will be honored this fall at a joint event with 100s of Men. 

More information about 100s of Women Who Care and their meetings is available on their website at 100sofwomenlincoln.org.

ECHO Collective

Kelly Ross was an experienced English as a Second Language teacher in 2020 when one of her students asked Ross if she would help her start a business. That made Ross think about other women she had met who also wanted to be self-sufficient, and all that “motivated me to go with it,” she said. The result is ECHO Collective, Empowering Communities through Her Opportunities. echocollectivene.org.

She said her work as an English teacher involved bringing people together around a common goal with no deadline. The only goal was to progress. “It was so much more than an English classroom; it was a community group.” 

When Ross decided to found a program to help women entrepreneurs, she wrote a curriculum that reflected that sense of community. “It was not just learning how to market, do books, or provide customer service,” she said. She wanted the course of study to help the women who enrolled thrive and have a sense of belonging.

While she did not have a business degree, Ross reached out to the community, asking people to share their expertise. “Everyone I approached said yes,” she said. 

In fall 2020, the program, The Refinery, enrolled its first cohort of six women in a four-month intensive business education course. The Refinery recently graduated its eighth cohort, which included 47 entrepreneurs. 

Ross herself does coaching with each group. Darian Gemmel manages the program and is the instructor. The classes are free to participants, as individuals, businesses, foundations, and government contracts fund them.

The program is located in the Turbine Flats building at 21st and Y Streets. In addition to the classes that take place there, the women in the program operate Refined & Co, a cooperative retail store that sells artisanal products like baked goods, fragrances, natural skin care products and accessories, clothing for women and children, artwork, and decorated household items.

Ross said she is thrilled that the women who have gone through The Refinery program are accomplishing their daily goals. “It’s a safe space for women to thrive, and people understand that about us,” she said. “We’re known in the community for our excellence.”

RISE Lincoln

Rise Lincoln was the 2014 brainchild of two Lincoln women, Katie Zulkoski and AshLea Allberry, who saw it as a way to help women in business connect with and learn from each other. After significant growth and success, RISE Lincoln transitioned to be a Lincoln Chamber of Commerce program, said Brooke Zimmerman, senior director of marketing and program development at the Lincoln Chamber.

She said the chamber recently expanded the program and now offers six complimentary events a year featuring a panel or single speaker addressing topics relevant to women in the Lincoln business community. 

RISE also offers a variety of “coaching communities,” each led by one of the nine certified professional RISE coaches. Each community includes eight to 12 women and focuses on encouraging participants to uncover what inspires them to grow. 

As is true of the other groups featured here, the goal of RISE is to support women and offer professional development. Still, it is especially “to celebrate and elevate other women,” Zimmerman said. www.riselincoln.org

Lincoln Chamber of Commerce

In addition to sponsoring RISE, the Lincoln Chamber joins with the UNL College of Business Administration to host an annual Women in Business event. Attendance has mushroomed to more than 500, Zimmerman said, and the conference is now held at the Rococo Theater, where it sold out last year. 

The 2024 spring event featured a keynote address from best-selling author Kindra Hall, made possible by the JoAnn Martin Leadership Legacy Endowment’s support and a panel discussion focused on the power of strategic storytelling.  

Zimmerman said she gets enthusiastic, positive feedback from the women who attend the RISE and Women in Business events. “It feels like we’re doing the right thing at the right time, and it’s incredible to watch the women of Lincoln’s business community connect, learn, and grow together,” she said. 

Working together with other nonprofit groups in the community, the Chamber, RISE, Ember, Inspire, and ECHO Collective are helping to hold up those who hold up half the sky.