Room for Roots Entrepreneurs Shine at Women’s Fund “Power of Us” Event Featuring Stacey Abrams
Under the bright lights of Steelhouse Omaha, a circle of Omaha’s women entrepreneurs gathered not just to listen, but to stand in their power.
I was among them. And let me tell you, on that Tuesday in November, it was such a beautiful sight.
The Women’s Fund of Omaha and the Lead the Change Fund hosted “The Power of Us,” a community conversation featuring Stacey Abrams, drawing a crowd focused on civic engagement, gender equity, and collective action.
Room for Roots, Inc. and 20 of our alumni came together to celebrate, unify, and network.
The event opened its doors at 5:15 p.m., with DJ Crabrangucci setting the tone before Abrams took the stage.
Partners Civic Nebraska and the League of Women Voters of Greater Omaha were on hand to share resources and help attendees plug into the democratic process.
The evening was a curated town hall–style series designed to build civic knowledge, strengthen community engagement, and inspire meaningful action around the policies shaping the lives of Nebraskans.
For many in attendance, the night was as much about community as it was about politics.
It felt like a room full of people saying, ‘We’re here. We’re paying attention. And we’re ready to move.
Abrams, a nationally recognized voting-rights advocate, attorney, and former Georgia state representative, outlined what she described as “the 10 steps to authoritarianism”, a framework she’s discussed in national media, before pivoting to a clear, hopeful roadmap for resisting autocracy and strengthening democracy.
She walked us through the danger. But she didn’t leave us there. She showed us the path forward. How our votes, our organizing, our everyday actions can push back against fear and control.
Events like this one are about more than a single night. They’re about building the muscle of civic engagement, especially for women, and especially for women of color, who have always been at the forefront of change.
In the middle of that movement, energy was Bridgett Belsky of Room for Roots, Inc., an Omaha-based nonprofit founded in 2019, focused on transforming the lives of underserved and at-risk women and girls through economic development, life coaching, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship support.
Through programs like the Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship, Priscilla’s Way Economic Development, Empowerment, and Entrepreneurship Program, and the Money Mindset Masterclass, the organization helps participants build both practical business skills and the financial confidence needed to start and sustain microbusinesses.
That mission was on full display that night, where alumni entrepreneurs gathered before and after Abrams’ talk to share updates on their businesses, exchange resources, and simply reconnect.
They were showing up as founders, leaders, and community builders, standing in a space that Bridgett fought to make sure they had.
I want to express deep gratitude to Bridgett and the Room for Roots alumnae for inviting me into that circle.
Bridgett, thank you for making room — literally and figuratively — for me and so many others. And to the entrepreneurs: thank you for the conversations, the hugs, the stories about your businesses and your dreams. You reminded me again that when women invest in one another, we change entire communities.
Omaha is lucky to have organizations like the Women’s Fund of Omaha and the Lead the Change Fund willing to do the hard, unglamorous work of research, policy, and organizing, and then pair it with nights like this that light a fire under all of us.
