Omaha by Design Staff

Connie Spellman, director
connie@omahabydesign.org
Connie Spellman is the founding director of Omaha by Design, an initiative of the Omaha Community Foundation (OCF) that began as Lively Omaha in 2001. Prior to her arrival at the OCF, Spellman served as vice president of education, leadership and workforce development for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. She is also a past director of Leadership Omaha and the Omaha Executive Institute. In addition to her professional duties, Spellman has been active as a volunteer with numerous community organizations. She helped launch the Omaha Job Clearinghouse, Omaha 2000, the Applied Information Management (AIM) Institute, the Greater Omaha Women’s Fund and INROADS Nebraska. She holds a B.S. in secondary education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Teresa Gleason, program manager
teresa@omahabydesign.org
Teresa Gleason began her duties as program manager at Omaha by Design in October 2006. She previously served as director of communications at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in southwest Iowa before beginning her public relations career. Gleason serves on the leadership team of Activate Omaha and is a member of the advisory board for the Neighborhood Center for Greater Omaha. She holds a B.A. in English and a minor in journalism and mass communication from Iowa State University.

Omaha by Design Volunteers
Omaha by Design would not be able to achieve its mission without the support of its volunteer base, whose service ranges from facilitating Place Game and Place Definition workshops to donating professional expertise to working committees. Omaha by Design has estimated the gross in-kind contribution of its volunteers to be nearly $300,000 annually. This figure is based on a modest volunteer rate of $15 per hour and a conservative professional services volunteer rate of $75 per hour.