TEN

What happens when farmers, startups, researchers, and investors come together to move agricultural innovation from ideas to real-world solutions? That's the focus of Spur AgConverge 2026, happening November 17–18 at Raising Nebraska in Grand Island. In this episode of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey and guest co-host Dr. Jessica Olsen welcome back Ankit Chandra, Director and Lecturer of Entre...

What if the most valuable thing you take away from a conference isn't something you learned, but someone you met? Sonja Scott believes meaningful connections don't happen by accident. They happen when we intentionally create experiences that bring people together. Sonja is an experience designer, product professional, small business owner, and Operations Director of Women in Tech of the He...

What if the work you're best at is also the work that's draining you? In this special Nebraska Women in Tech Summit series of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey of the Aksarben Foundation and guest co-host Dr. Jessica Olsen of Kiewit welcome Michelle Lee, a professional at Farm Credit and founder of Burgundy Road Consulting. Michelle's career has taken her from direct marketing and data...

AI can help businesses build, automate, and move faster. But just because technology can do something, does that mean we should use it? Jess Goldoni, co-founder of Nebraska. AI , has spent 20 years building businesses and navigating the intersection of technology, marketing, communications, and organizational change. Her experience spans healthcare, legal services, finance, and nonprofits, includi...

What happens when someone who dreams of becoming a doctor discovers an entirely different way to contribute to medicine? For Dr. Ashley Babjac, that journey led from biology to mathematics, computer science, and eventually artificial intelligence research with applications in healthcare and scientific discovery. Today, Dr. Babjac is an Assistant Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Bellevue Uni...

In a world where technology moves faster every day, when do we give ourselves permission to pause? In this special Nebraska Women in Tech Summit series of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey of the Aksarben Foundation and guest co-host Dr. Jessica Olsen of Kiewit welcome Amy McCae, a fractional wellness coach, conscious leadership expert, and 2026 Nebraska Women in Tech Summit panelist. Amy's pat...

A winding career path is not wasted time. For Kari Schmitz, Assistant General Counsel at Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company, every unexpected turn added something she could use later. In this special Nebraska Women in Tech Summit series of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey and co-host Dr. Jessica Olsen, Ed. D., sit down with Kari to talk about career pivots, taking risks and trusting the value of th...

What does it really take to create change? Sometimes it's less about having the perfect idea and more about bringing the right people together. In this special Nebraska Women in Tech Summit series of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey of the Aksarben Foundation and guest co-host Dr. Jessica Olsen of Kiewit welcome Lindsay Hruby-Yardley, Innovation Consultant at Don't Panic Labs and a 2026 Ne...

AI can save time. But should it be doing the thinking for you? For Frank Shimerdla of A&O Grant Consulting , the answer is pretty clear. Frank has worked in grants for about 25 years. Over the past year, he has started incorporating generative AI into different parts of his work, from early drafts to prospect research. What started as some experimentation has changed the way he approaches the...

Before you build the solution, how well do you understand the problem and the person you are trying to help? That question runs through this episode of the TEN Podcast’s Nebraska Women in Tech Summit Special Series with Audrey Crane, Partner at DesignMap and a speaker at the 2026 Nebraska Women in Tech Summit . Audrey’s path into technology started with an unusual combination: theater and pure mat...

Can you build a high-performing company without losing the people-first culture behind it? Stephanie Clark believes you can — and should. In this episode of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey and guest co-host Shayla Kelly of Complete Weddings + Events sit down with Stephanie Clark, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of GMP Pros® , an engineering and technical staffing company serving life sciences manufacturers...

Women entrepreneurs continue to face barriers to capital. Molly Huyck decided she wanted to build something that could help change that. In this special Nebraska Women in Tech Summit series of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey and Dr. Jessica Olsen sit down with Molly Huyck, founder of Aequitas Invest and Set the Bar and the 2026 Nebraska Women in Tech Diversity Champion of the Year. After more tha...

Up to $5 trillion. That’s how much closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship could add to the global economy, according to research from the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and Boston Consulting Group. Cherie Blair Foundation for Women It’s also a statistic that helped shape what Molly Huyck decided to do next. Molly is the founder of Aequitas Invest and Set the Bar and the 2026 Nebraska Women...

AI can generate code. But that doesn’t mean it always generates the right code. In this episode of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey visits with Rob Ruiz , an Omaha-based full-stack software engineer, Certified Advanced Professional WordPress Developer, AI expert, and owner of Bizzle Interactive . Rob is also the lead maintainer of WP Rig , an open-source WordPress theme development framework used...

What if the answer to brain drain isn't convincing people to stay, but building opportunities so strong they want to come back? In this special Nebraska Women in Tech Summit series of the TEN Podcast, Liz Morrell, Director of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership at the University of Nebraska, joins LaShonna Dorsey and co-host Jessica Olsen, EdD of Kiewit for a conversation about manufacturi...

Hunter Bergman has a goal: help 500 people become more confident and capable with AI. And he’s already more than 200 people in. Hunter is the founder of XPM and XPM Labs. Originally from Northeast Nebraska, he started building what would become XPM while attending Northeast Community College and continued growing the company after transferring to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. For the past fo...

Some of the people making the biggest impact in our communities are also the least likely to seek recognition. They do it because the work matters to them more than the accolades. Tailla Strawn knows that firsthand. Tayla is the 2026 Nebraska Women in Tech Tech Community Impact Award recipient, founder of PowerPath Collective, a full-time student, and a workforce and career development professiona...

Artificial intelligence is changing software engineering—but it's also redefining what it means to be a successful engineer. In this episode of the TEN Podcast, Keegan Taylor , Director of Software Engineering at Workshop, joins Shonna Dorsey and guest co-host Jessica Olson to discuss how AI is transforming the tech industry and what that means for students, engineers, and technology leaders. From...

We’re kicking off a special TEN Podcast series highlighting the women who help shape the Nebraska Women in Tech Summitas speakers, volunteers, partners, award recipients and community leaders. Our first guest is Erin Good, Executive Director in the Kiewit Technology Group and founding partner of the Summit. Erin started her career as a software engineer and has spent more than 20 years growing int...

Artificial intelligence is transforming the way marketers and creatives work—but according to Lindsey Frum, it's not replacing creativity. It's enhancing it. In this episode of the TEN Podcast , Lindsey Frum, Marketing & Communications Manager at the Aksarben Foundation, shares how she combines creativity, web development, and AI to produce impactful work while staying true to the huma...

Entrepreneurs often assume they need to reach the next milestone before they can start operating differently. More revenue, more clients, a bigger team, then they’ll step fully into the role of CEO. Beth Powers sees it differently. In this episode of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey talks with Beth, founder of the Omaha Women’s Network, about entrepreneurship, leadership, community, and what it re...

Youth sports can give young people so much more than a place to compete. In this episode of the TEN Podcast , Teresa Friesen shares how she is combining technology, mentorship, and social science to create healthier and more meaningful experiences for young athletes. Through SheMate , Teresa uses technology to connect girls in sports with women athletes who can mentor them, while also creating too...

Marketing is changing fast. The tools are evolving, customer expectations are shifting, and AI is changing how people discover, evaluate, and interact with businesses. But one thing matters more than ever: human connection. In this episode of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey and Brian Poppe sit down with Shayla Kelly, Marketing Director at Complete Weddings + Events , to talk about what it takes t...

AI is becoming part of healthcare—but what does that actually look like in education? In this episode of the  TEN Podcast , Dr.  Kelsi Anderson , President of Bryan College of Health Sciences, shares how her team is thoughtfully exploring AI to improve the student experience, support faculty and staff, and prepare future healthcare professionals for an evolving industry. We discuss: How AI is impr...

Most people don't think about pet transportation until they need it. But for busy professionals, families, seniors, and pet care providers, getting pets where they need to go can be a real challenge. In this episode of the TEN Podcast, Kaleb Heckens, Director of Marketing at Leash, joins us to discuss how a growing startup is helping solve that challenge while expanding into markets across the cou...