Our Hearts. Our Choice. Omaha NE

Keynote Speaker

connie spellman

Connie Spellman is the founding director of Omaha by Design, a civic planning organization dedicated to the development, implementation and monitoring of urban design and
environmental public policy in the metro. The organization facilitates partnerships between the public, private and philanthropic sectors to execute projects that improve the quality of the metro’s natural and built environments. Prior to her arrival at Omaha by Design, 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, the Omaha Executive Institute and Omaha 2000.  She helped launch the Omaha Job Clearinghouse and the Applied Information Management (AIM) Institute.

In addition to her professional duties, Spellman has been active as a volunteer with numerous community organizations, including the Greater Omaha Women’s Fund, INROADS Nebraska and the Urban League.

Spellman is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. In 2007, she was named the Midlander of the Year by the Omaha World-Herald. In 2009, she was elected to honorary membership in the American Society of Landscape Architects, one of the highest honors the organization confers. In 2010, she received the Distinguished Leadership Award for a Planning Advocate from the Nebraska Chapter of the American Planning Association and the Nebraska Architectural Foundation’s Distinguished Commitment to Architecture Award.