Teresa Mardesen recognized with Women’s Legacy Award
SHARE Omaha’s executive director Teresa Mardesen is being awarded the 2023 “Women’s Legacy Award” by Women on a Mission for Change, an organization dedicated to supporting women and girls through partnership and mentoring.
The Women’s Legacy Award is given annually to women who exhibit a high level of professional or volunteer achievement and leadership skills, generate significant impact in Nebraska and are highly respected by their peers and a role model for other women.
You’re invited to join SHARE Omaha to celebrate Teresa’s work at the Legacy Gala on October 20th.
Teresa was nominated for the award because of her passion for impactful change in our community and her decades of work empowering girls and fighting for pay equity for women have done just that!
Laura Roccaforte, President & CEO of The Learning Exchange shares, “I met Teresa for the first time when she as a participant in ICAN’s Defining Leadership for Women series, a program I have the pleasure of facilitating. The reading for one of our sessions was from Catalyst.org, an organization that supports workplaces that work for women. In that reading, the often-quoted statistic that women make 72 cents on the dollar compared to men was a startling statistic to Teresa, especially when shared with her then 11-year-old daughter. Teresa came back to class the next morning with a mandate from her daughter – “mom, someone needs to do something about that. So, Teresa did. She received a grant from Bread for the Journey and began to advocate politically and structurally to achieve pay equity and advance technology skills for young girls. Teresa was responsible for creating a new Tech Savvy conference for girls in Omaha.”
In 2014, Teresa was awarded the Bread for the Journey grant for her proposed plan to achieve pay equity in Omaha for all women, including all BIPOC, AAPI, and LBGTQIAS2+ needs. The approach depended on collaborating with community leaders, nonprofits, companies, educators, etc. to address six key necessary factors that must be addressed to achieve pay equity: leadership representation, legislation, STEM, salary negotiation, bias elimination and education/awareness.
Gregory Fripp, founder of Whispering Roots shares, “She listens, engages and advocates! She is also a connector who is constantly trying to enhance the greater good.”
While on Farm Credit Services of America’s Team Catalyst Women’s Leadership Team, Teresa was able to help achieve a new maternity policy, get the salary question removed from the application process, and create a mentorship program for women and minorities. The team also created four Employee Resource Groups and created a position focused on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Nathan Morgan, previous Executive Director of The Big Garden shares, “As a member of the Big Garden’s board of directors, Teresa embraced our mission of growing healthy food, healthy kids and healthy communities. She leaned into discussions about racism in our food system, engaging in uncomfortable conversations about why food insecurity is higher among people of color than white people in our community. Teresa listens and seeks to understand the perspectives of people who come from different backgrounds, always with the goal of working together to develop a strategy to address inequalities in ways that prioritize the respect and dignity of those who are being served.”
Currently, as SHARE Omaha’s executive director, Teresa is actively amplifying the work of 700+ local nonprofits and connecting these vital missions to new donors, volunteers and year-round supporters. Through nonprofit surveys, Teresa has discovered that the average local not-for-profit organization only has about two-thirds the volunteers they need to operate optimally, creating a shortage of 88 volunteer hours per week per organization. This need drove Teresa to develop an initiative called 40 Gives 40 with a goal of recruiting 40 companies to launch Volunteer Time Off (VTO) programs over the next three years, working to eliminate the volunteer gap for nonprofits.
Each initiative of Teresa’s has been personal, whole-hearted, and deeply impactful. The Omaha metro is a better place because of Teresa’s unstoppable passion and we at SHARE Omaha can’t wait to see her significant contributions continue in the years to come.
Congratulations, Teresa!