Lincoln Littles and the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development (LPED) are excited to announce that nine additional local organizations have been certified through the Lincoln Family-Friendly Workplace Certification Program. With this latest round of certifications, the program has now recognized 60 Lincoln organizations as family-friendly workplaces.

The nine workplaces receiving certification are: A Blessing of Hope and Family Services; Bison, Inc.; Center for Legal Immigration Assistance; E&A Consulting Group, Inc.; FNIC; Food Bank of Lincoln; Nebraska Orthopedic Center; Nelnet, Inc.; and Sandhills Global.

To date, 60 different Lincoln area workplaces in four rounds of review periods have received certification through the Lincoln Family-Friendly Workplace Certification Program. A full list can be found at the LPED website, https://www.selectlincoln.org/lincoln-family-friendly-workplace-certification.

The program was announced in October 2025 and celebrates employers who demonstrate a strong commitment to supporting working families with young children, implement family-friendly workplace practices for their employees and help make Lincoln a great place to live, work and play by prioritizing family-well-being and early childhood support.

“The Food Bank of Lincoln is honored to receive the Family-Friendly Workplace Certification. In keeping with the spirit of our mission of alleviating hunger in Southeast Nebraska, we aspire to create a work environment that allows our employees to take care of themselves and their families while working toward that mission every day,” says Jenny Ekeler, CFO of Food Bank of Lincoln. 

“Recognizing that every employee has different needs, we try to build in the flexibility to meet each person where they are in life. The Family Friendly Workplace Certification recognizes those efforts by employers and helps bring awareness to the importance of considering not just the employee, but the whole person,” Ekeler concludes.

Those obtaining certification receive placement on a public map available for job seekers and families, inclusion on the LPED and Lincoln Littles websites and social media platforms, recognition at LPED and Lincoln Chamber of Commerce events and a certification decal and digital badge for website and other promotional use.

"Sandhills Global is always looking for ways to better support our team members and their families. We are excited to receive certification of a Family Friendly Workplace in Lincoln to show our current and future employees that we are invested to easing the burdens and challenges of balancing work and family life,” says Nancy Paasch, Chief Administration Officer of Sandhills Global.

To gain certification, employers must meet at least seven out of 10 qualifying criteria. Complete details on the workplaces certification program can be found at https://www.selectlincoln.org/lincoln-family-friendly-workplace-certification.

To apply, workplaces will complete the free self-assessment application online, which takes around 15 minutes to complete. Applications will be reviewed quarterly by the Lincoln Littles Board of Advisors Engagement Committee. 

For more information on Engagement Committee meetings and a certification review timeline, contact Anne Brandt, Executive Director of Lincoln Littles, at anne.brandt@lincolnlittles.org.