Mayoral Initiatives
Lincoln Forward
Growing the Good Life in Lincoln
Lincoln Forward pursues a holistic approach to our city’s economic growth and development, understanding that growth and development are not ends in themselves but rather the means by which we cultivate the good life. Lincoln Forward focuses on fostering the conditions for Lincolnites to flourish and feel secure that they can provide for their families. Fundamental to this initiative are economic and workforce development and ensuring that our residents have access to enjoyable, rewarding, and financially secure careers.
Lincoln Forward works to build on our community’s strengths and grow our economic influence and impact through business expansion, retention, attraction, and support, as well as through professional development activities that offer our workforce meaningful, relevant skills training and lifelong learning opportunities. This initiative also takes a lead role in implementing the strategy recommendations of the Mayor’s Economic Recovery Task Force. The Task Force’s recommendations provide a framework by which everyone in Lincoln – residents, employers, and public and private sector leaders – can participate in our community’s economic recovery and renewal.
Economic Development
The Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development (LPED) is a public-private collaboration supported by the City of Lincoln charged with fulfilling Lincoln’s Economic Development goals. Job growth and business expansion are critical components of a vibrant and thriving community.
Buy Local City Policy: Local purchasing can leverage as much as a 1.5 times economic impact. In other words, purchasing locally adds value, because jobs, capitol, and supply purchases all stay right here in Lincoln. This can be done by implementing a micropurchasing policy, encouraging city agencies to “buy local.”
Workforce Development
The Greater Lincoln Workforce Development Board implements the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The Mayor serves as the Chief Elected Official, leading job training and workforce development projects across the region.
Recovery and Renewal
The Mayor’s Economic Recovery Task Force was established in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic. The mission of the Task Force was to develop data-driven, locally informed strategies for supporting local businesses and employment as the local economy begins to recover from COVID-19, while fostering public health, inclusion, and resilience in Lincoln. The City of Lincoln works to implement the strategies and recommendations in the report.
Recovery Resources: Numerous state and federal economic recovery resources are available on the City of Lincoln COVID-19 Business Resources page.
One Lincoln
Creating a culture of equity, inclusion, and belonging
One Lincoln works to realize the vision of a community where people of every race, religion, culture, class, age, ability, and identity feel understood, enjoy a true sense of belonging, and experience equal opportunity to reach their full human potential. One Lincoln champions community policies, practices, and culture change initiatives that advance equity, diversity, and inclusion, as well as efforts that foster individual community members’ personal journeys of awareness and transformation through conversations on topics like discrimination. One Lincoln recognizes that we create transformed, inclusive new realities by becoming transformed, inclusive people.
One Lincoln promotes the well-being of every resident through affordable housing initiatives, tenant assistance, and policies and programs to ensure healthy outcomes for children and families. The initiative seeks to ensure that the city’s workforce is diverse and representative; that no one is discriminated against in employment, housing, and public accommodations; that discrimination complaints are handled fairly and expeditiously; and that unfair inequities in the community are addressed and reduced.
Housing Initiatives
- Affordable Housing Coordinated Action Plan(PDF, 14MB)
- Tenant Assistance Project
- Rent and Utilities Assistance
Health Equity Initiatives
- Healthy Homes Program
The City of Lincoln has received over $3.4 million from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to address lead paint and other hazards such as mold, ventilation, and lead pipes in 165 Lincoln homes over 5 years. This program is a partnership between the City’s Urban Development Department, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, and 12 community-based organizations to ensure healthy homes for Lincoln’s children. - COVID-19 response & vaccine equity
Building a Culture of Inclusion and Belonging
New American Inclusion and Belonging Initiatives:
Equity in City Operations
- The City of Lincoln has partnered with Inclusive Communities to provide training for City employees on workplace inclusion and respecting diverse identities.
- The One Lincoln City Employee Advisory Board engages supports the City’s internal diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
- The Mayor’s proposed 2021-2022 budget includes funding for a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Administrator. This staff person will work to ensure that City Hall reflects and can meet the needs of the diverse communities we serve.
Resilient Lincoln
Building a Climate-Smart Future
Resilient Lincoln identifies local climate vulnerabilities and deploys strategies to build our community’s capacity to mitigate and overcome associated risks. As a result of Resilient Lincoln’s Climate Action Plan(PDF, 14MB), we know that flooding, drought, extreme heat, and public health problems are some of the most significant climate-related risks we face in the coming decades. Resilient Lincoln recognizes that embedded in these risks lie opportunities — opportunities to innovate and create new jobs and technologies as we strengthen our infrastructure, reduce our carbon footprint, and protect our quality of life.
At the heart of the Resilient Lincoln initiative is an ambitious goal: in collaboration with our publicly owned Lincoln Electric System, we have committed to a goal of an eighty percent net reduction in Lincoln’s greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. This goal is instrumental in aligning the direction of municipal government going forward, and we will pay particular attention to how we safeguard our water supply and proactively protect Lincoln’s property and people from climate hazards. Yet the goal also represents a strategic vision for our entire community. Our energy providers, business owners, universities, institutions, and residents all have an important role to play in building a stronger, more resilient, just, and climate-smart future for ourselves, our children, and grandchildren.
