LINCOLN- A state agency charged with advocating for Nebraska’s African Americans has cycled through two executive directors in the three years since it launched. Each stayed less than a year before resigning. A trio of spots on the governing board also are vacant as the Nebraska Commission on African American Affairs continues to find its bearings.

A founding commissioner who is now filling in as interim director expects the commission to step up activity this year and amplify the voice of Nebraska’s roughly 92,000 African Americans in towns small, big, rural and urban. John Carter said he’d like the 14-member commission to go as far as to assume oversight of certain state economic development funds to help ensure that dollars intended for Black populations reach and impact them.

State Sen. Terrell McKinney, one of two African Americans in the Legislature, said the turnover of executive directors at the commission has not been “a good sign.” He said he is hopeful the commission will elevate its profile and connection to his North Omaha district, and believes the commission could become an effective ally.

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