"You never want to create something where you’re the only person who can do the thing,” Shonna Dorsey said. “That was a huge lesson for me. I used to think it was because I was so amazing. But what it actually says is that I didn’t do a good job of building something that was sustainable without me. That’s just a no-go for me anymore.”
After nearly 10 years of developing communities in Nebraska’s tech industry, Dorsey is turning her attention to a bigger goal: attracting and retaining technical talent across Nebraska as the executive director of the Nebraska Tech Collaborative and interim director of InternNE.
Born and raised in North Omaha, Dorsey was living in Florida and working remotely for Mutual of Omaha, when CIO Michael Lechtenberger reached out with an unusual request. Would she consider moving back to Omaha to work with the Aksarben Foundation’s tech talent initiatives in the state?
Dorsey had known Lechtenberger since she sold her first startup, Interface, a web development school, to the AIM Institute, where he sat on the board. “I’ve come across very few people in Nebraska’s tech community,” Lechtenberger said, “who didn’t know Shonna. She understands the community and industry here. She understands how to connect talent with the industry.”
When he asked her to consider filling the executive director role at NTC, Dorsey said her first response was, “Well, I can help you find someone, but I’m pretty satisfied with my beach life.”
But the more she learned about the role, she realized it was an uncommon opportunity to do something at a scale that could impact an entire state.
“She said it was one of probably two jobs she’d consider coming back to Nebraska for,” Lechtenberger laughed.
“When I ran Interface from 2014 to 2017, I really didn’t know anyone outside of my work network,” Dorsey recounted. “But running the school required me to be very community-focused, very relationship-focused, and figure out who I could partner with to get things done.”
That collaborative approach is key, she said, to scaling NTC’s goal to grow and keep technical talent in Nebraska.
“NTC and InternNE are about talent retention and Nebraska prosperity,” said Sandra Reding, president of the Aksarben Foundation. “Companies won’t locate here or stay here if they can’t find the workforce.”
“We’re already about 5,000 people short in the tech industry here,” agreed Mike Cassling, founding chair of NTC. “We’re already having companies open out of state, and we’re going to quietly lose companies if we don’t address it.”
Dorsey emphasizes that both NTC and InternNE (a $20-million, 2-year grant for offering companies support and reimbursement for high-value internships) are statewide efforts. “Our goal is not, ‘hey, let’s get people to move to Omaha.’ We really want smaller communities to thrive as well. So, let’s identify who the key players are in each of the regions [and] the individuals who can help us build connections with local companies faster.”
“These problems are too big to be siloed,” Cassling said. “And she’s the best connector and communicator I’ve ever seen.”
With the launch of InternNE in late fall, Dorsey will work to shore up partnerships in western counties, traveling around the state personally before the weather shifts for the winter. “After that initial meeting or two, we can switch to Zoom, but that first one cannot be online,” she insisted. “That’s not the way to build a relationship right at all.”
Still, no matter how solid a person’s relationship-building skills are, a body needs some down time.
“I’m a slight introvert, which is surprising to people sometimes,” Dorsey shared.
“She is not an introvert!” Cassling exclaimed. “That is a lie. If she is, I have never seen anyone hide it so well.”
Dorsey does have a few tricks for recharging. Coming out from the pandemic, she tried to figure out how to be around people and not have to, well, talk. In December 2021, she signed up for a 5K run in Florida. “And then, I was like, I should just keep doing it. I find a race, sign up, show up, do the thing, high-five a couple people at the end, get in my car and go home.”
In 2022, Dorsey completed 22 races, and she’s on pace to complete 23 by the end of this year. 2024, she believes, will see her cap out at 24 races in a year. “That’s about two a month. At least, that’s the plan.”
Karaoke is another favorite way to wind down, specifically at Moe & Curly’s on 108th and Maple. “The DJs are always so great. You can sing multiple times a night,” Dorsey said.
Her go-to song is “Rooster” by Alice in Chains. A recent addition to the pastime is what she calls “ball gown karaoke.” “I went to a fundraiser a few weeks ago, and I was planning to meet up with some girlfriends to go karaoke. I had on this ball gown, and I was like, just take me there. Now it’s a thing. You know, there are no rules. A lot of this”—she gestures at life in general—”it’s all made up.”
It’s a philosophy she sprinkles around liberally. “I like to experiment in general, and I’m doing a lot of that with NTC. Sometimes things work, sometimes they won’t, but there’s no fear. That’s just part of how I’m wired at this point,” Dorsey said. “I just have to try stuff and see how it goes. We may pilot and scale something or shut it down or whatever makes sense.”
“One of her superpowers,” Reding said, “is that she’s able to break things down into bite-sized pieces. And you can be confident that she’ll do what she says she’ll do.”
To stay focused, Dorsey starts things she’s familiar with and tie into the same goal—like podcasts focusing on tech entrepreneurship in Nebraska or meetups for women of color in tech.
“If it’s not related to what we’re trying to get done at the NTC, I can’t add it in. I really remember what it feels like to be burned out,” Dorsey said. She shakes her head. “That is…it’s not good. Especially when you’re running something where you have a lot of people depending on you. So let’s think bigger here. Collaborative instead of being competitive. It’s not a pie to cut up and hand out in pieces.”
Visit nebtechcollab.com and internne.com for more information.
This article originally appeared in the December 2023/January 2024 issue of B2B Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

Photo by Bill Sitzmann.