Willie Barney

To some, gun violence and broken trust between police and community members seem like problems that are simply too big to fix, but not to Willie Barney. As the founder and president of the African-American Empowerment Network, a My Brother’s Keeper Alliance National Seed Community, Willie has […]

By Jay Connor n the immediate aftermath of the officer-related death of George Floyd, countless corporations openly pledged to address racism within their workplaces and poured resources into supporting social justice initiatives throughout the country. And while those ongoing efforts have thus far yielded mixed results, […]

Meet Willie Barney, Founder and President of the African American Empowerment Network in Omaha, Nebraska. In his own words, Wille shares how he chose to dedicate his life to improving opportunities for boys and men of color in his city. From his childhood in rural Mississippi […]

OMAHA, Neb. —The Rebuilding the Village Conference attracts hundreds each year, this year’s conference was no different. But a new partnership announced at the conference could change the organization’s impact for years to come. The Empowerment Network has joined forces with the Obama Foundation. Former President […]

“Everybody says that it takes a village to raise a child, but what happens when the village needs to be rebuilt?” asks Willie Barney, founder and president of the Empowerment Network. The “village” concept is integral to the Empowerment Network’s philosophy, and the organization has been […]

Willie Barney, one of Omaha’s ‘most significant leaders,’ is constantly bridging the city’s dividing lines of geography, race and social class… Wearing his standard uniform of suit coat and slacks, Willie Barney held open a college lecture hall door, greeting the teenagers streaming out. “Looking good, […]

10 years after activists charted a new path for north Omaha, the problem-plagued community may be turning a corner. By Henry Cordes / / World-Herald staff writer Ten years ago, a group of north Omaha activists met in a cafe amid the hollowed-out North 24th Street […]

OMAHA, NEB (KMTV) – Where do we go from here was one of the main points in UNMC’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr event. “How can we make sure we can all win and be apart of this society,” said Willie Barney. Guest speaker Willie Barney […]

“Everybody says that it takes a village to raise a child, but what happens when the village really needs to be brought back together in order to do that work?” asks Willie Barney, the founder and president of the Empowerment Network. This holiday season, Christmas in […]

Each meeting of the anti-violence Omaha 360 task force begins with a report by Omaha police captains on the previous week’s gun assaults in north Omaha. But the discussion quickly turns to how to prevent the next shooting. During a May meeting, police officials pinpointed a […]