Uniting to Empower the Omaha Community

Through Sojern’s corporate social responsibility program, Sojern Gives Back, we partner with organizations around the world to provide meaningful ways to help the community on a local level. Sojern has been privileged to partner closely with the United Way of the Midlands since 2016. During 2017, so many of our employees volunteered hours with the United Way of the Midlands, that we recently received the United Way of the Midlands’ 2017 Volunteer Organization of the Year Award.

“It has been an honor to partner with the United Way of the Midlands for the past three years. The work that they continue to do within our community and beyond to help promote literacy is inspirational. I’m very excited to see what impact we can make together for the future.”

- Brent Brummer, Vice President of Business Strategy and Operations

“It was inspiring to see so many local philanthropists and corporations supporting the United Way with the vital services they provide our local community. Omaha is such a connected community. It was an honor to see Sojern recognized for our volunteerism in the community where we got our start.”

- Kristen Beat, Sales Executive

About United Way of the Midlands

Volunteer engagement is a key element of United Way of the Midlands philosophy and mission."One person, on his or her own, may not have much reach. But when we put our efforts together, and leverage the volunteer resources and experienced know-how of the United Way, thousands of lives are changed for the better."

“To me, living united means we are all working together toward the same goal. We all believe in answering the call. A perfect example is the Sojern coat drive. A school reached out to UWM and asked if we knew of any groups that had any coats they could donate because they know they will have a number of students (and family members) that will come to school without coats this winter. Sojern, without blinking, said, 'Yes, we’ll help with that.'

Sojernistas worked together to fill every box in their office with coats. Sojern will have a tremendous impact on the issue of children coming to school without coats this winter. Now multiply that action by a neighborhood, a community, a city, a state and so on. Living united gives us the ability to make an incredible impact.”

- Danielle Ohlman, Director of Volunteer Engagement at United Way of the Midlands

By understanding the needs of the community, United Way of the Midlands has excelled at putting programs together that help unite the community—making it stronger for today’s community and future generations. As a trusted community problem solver, they are a community helpline for everything from housing assistance to helping families with financial stability.

Sojern’s Partnership with United Way of the Midlands

Sojern is honored to help United Way of the Midlands in their community goals. For example, for the past two years at Sojern’s annual company-wide global conference, Sojernistas worked together to build literacy kits. The kits were later distributed to children in our community as part of the United Way’s Day of Action where Sojernistas shared stories, drew pictures, read books, and most importantly, laughed together.

For the Day of Caring last year,  Sojern Omaha volunteered at Open Door Mission—helping to sort inventory for the community store which allows homeless individuals and families to pick up furniture, clothing, hygiene items, and more, completely free.

“Coordinating volunteer opportunities with Sojern has been an incredible and rewarding experience that's given UWM the opportunity to work with a company that is as purposeful about impacting the community around them as they are about doing business. The impact that Sojern has had in such a little amount of time, as we have joined efforts, derives from a shared belief that giving back is key to moving forward. Sojern has impacted our community in multiple ways and has made an incredible impact in less than two years. We couldn’t be more grateful. ”

- Danielle Ohlman, Director of Volunteer Engagement at United Way of the Midlands

Employee Impact of Sojern’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program

The impact of working with organizations, such as the United Way of the Midlands, is felt not only by the community we help serve, but by each and every Sojern employee.

In my experience working with United Way of the Midlands has been incredibly rewarding. It was a really great feeling to not only see the joy in the kids' faces, but to know that without Sojern this event might not have happened. We ended up donating over 400 books and over $14,000 to help promote literacy together.

Every child deserves a chance at succeeding in life, yet so many lack the resources, attention, and role models they need. The proactive focus of this campaign made me feel like I could really change a child’s whole outlook and life trajectory.

“Volunteering for the United Way with Sojern has been an extremely heartwarming and special experience for me. I get to see the direct impact it has not only on myself, but my co-workers and the community. I am grateful for the opportunity to give back and will continue to do so in the future.”

- Ann Marie Krahulec, Customer Marketing Manager

"When we spent time at the school with the kids, you could see it in their eyes that they truly appreciated us being there. It is so great to work for a company who values experiences such as these, as it displays the commitment and the value that we place on our company and our employees."

- Wendy Gibson, Sales Enablement Manager

Here at Sojern, our corporate social responsibility takes many forms. That’s why we created Sojern Gives Back to help make our local communities a better place. Interested in partnering with our employees as volunteers? Learn more about Sojern Gives Back.