Ask an Alum: Dominique Kelley
Dominique Kelley (‘12 & ‘14) lives by the motto “adapt, accept change and pivot,” especially when it comes to life’s curveballs. From teaching to coaching and now working as the CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Lincoln, Dominique is impacting younger generations in our community.
Talk a bit about your current role and how your collegiate involvements, courses or experience at Nebraska pushed you towards this position.
This is my second week as the new CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Lincoln. My experience not only being a collegiate athlete at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, but also being a kid who grew up playing sports has helped me transition into not just this role, but all the roles that I have held. During my senior year, I had a career-ending injury which taught me the importance of being able to pivot and look at things from a different perspective. I honestly think that injury is what propelled me forward. I had my mind dead set on being a collegiate basketball coach. I had a preterm labor experience where my son passed away and that created an opportunity for me to pivot into something else. A few years later I had the opportunity to pivot in another direction and that was coaching at Lincoln High and then again when this opportunity at Boys & Girls Club of Lincoln became available. It’s all about making sure to diversify yourself and be prepared with backup plans. Sometimes in life, things don’t happen the way that we plan or think they will unfold.
What is your favorite part about your job?
People are very important to me and that has been true for as long as I can remember. Even though I am in a different role and be capacity to work with the youth is a little different, at the heart of that work is still serving others. I am continuing to live out that dream. The passion for serving others is why I wanted to be a college coach. I wanted to help other athletes, young athletes, coming up.
Can you speak about your passion for the Boys & Girls Club of Lincoln and its mission to empower youth? Why did this opportunity excite you?
When I was exploring this opportunity, I felt the mission of helping the youth reach their full potential aligned with who I am as a person and the work I was doing previously at Lincoln High, though the work looks a little bit different. I am excited because I was one of these kids who utilized these resources. A lot of the success I have had can be attributed to community centers and the mentors I had in life. After-school programming is very important to me and is a big part of the reason, I am who I am today. Overall, I feel the mission aligned with who I am. Taking this role was a no-brainer, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me.
What do you hope to do in your new position as CEO? Are there any specific goals you hope to reach or impact you hope to make on the Lincoln community?
Right now, I am in a discovery phase of listening and observing and identifying what things we do well and where are areas we need to improve. My overall goals are to be able to serve every student who has a membership of the Boys & Girls Club and leverage accessibility. Making it possible to provide services for struggling families. I also hope to change the narrative that Boys & Girls Club is not just a daycare or an after-school program. There is high-level programming that is going on and I was able to witness that firsthand at Park Middle School last week. A lot of our program directors and Youth Program Directors are aspiring teachers so there is curriculum attached to our work. The kids aren’t just playing basketball or sitting at tables coloring, there is specific curriculum attached to our programming. I am confident with the attached curriculum the youth and marginalized groups of this community will have lots of opportunities to have success stories kind of like my own.
As a student, you were an athlete on the Husker Women’s Basketball team, then went on to become an assistant coach at the collegiate level and eventually transitioned to leading Lincoln High’s girls’ basketball team. How did the University of Nebraska-Lincoln prepare you for these leadership roles?
I learned the importance of being able to adapt, accept change and pivot. I want to also be transparent and honest about the opportunities you are afforded when you choose to attend college near home. I had opportunities to attend universities across the country, but I was a hometown kid and people and relationships are important to me. Nebraska was a game-changer for academic support and life skills development for student-athletes. When going through the recruiting process, there weren’t many places that could offer what Nebraska provided for student-athletes. It made sense to stay in Lincoln because the best resources and opportunities were just down the street from where I grew up. Along with my work ethic and ability to build relationships, the decision to stay home afforded me leverage for situations that I am in.
In 2021 you were named the Dr. Barbara Hibner Mentor of the Year in Lincoln by Girls and Women in Sports and Fitness. What does this honor mean to you?
The work that I was doing at Lincoln High during this time was very difficult. It was challenging every single day. That period of time with the pandemic made things much more complicated. To receive that honor and be nominated by a colleague whom I got to know very well at Lincoln High was super humbling. It made me dig deeper and rejuvenated me to give my students more. The pandemic was weird, and a lot of people were struggling with mental health and various things in that capacity. Receiving the award allowed me to push through and give my players a better experience.
Who is your role model?
Right now, I am sitting in the seat that I am sitting in because of women. I’ve had some really amazing mentors in pivotal points throughout my journey. All of the lessons and experiences that I have had with these female mentors have afforded me the opportunity where I am at today. The reason that I am doing this job and who I hope to model for is all of the young girls in this city who feel like they can’t do certain things because of limitations. More than anything, I hope young girls around this community and Lincoln will feel like what I am doing is possible for them too. It’s so important to me. Giving back to the young women who are up and coming so they can then pass that mentality along to others to be successful as well.
Was there someone at Nebraska that had a big impact on you?
My college basketball coach, Connie Yori, had the biggest impact on me. She made a huge investment in my life when she started recruiting me at fourteen years old. The thing that I learned from Coach Yori is hard work, dedication and perseverance. What I admired most about her is she held my teammates and I to a high standard. The coolest thing about her is she never asked anything of the team that she wasn’t willing to do herself and she modeled that on a daily basis. As I moved forward during my time at Lincoln High, I made sure that anything I asked those young women to do was something I could model and carry out as well. Coach Yori and I are still very close to this day. My family had dinner with her just this past Friday.
Is there one thing you learned during your time at Nebraska that has and will continue to stick with you?
The ability to be adaptable. The Nebraska Life Skills department led by Keith Zimmer is next to none across the country. I spent a lot of my own time giving back to this resource during my time with the athletics department. I appreciated the investment the university made in their athletes to help them prepare for life after athletics. I don’t think that is something that all universities and athletic departments are talking about with their athletes. For the majority of us, sports stop after college, and some aren’t prepared to do what’s next. But Nebraska’s life skills department always encouraged me and my teammates to apply the experiences that we learned on the court to other areas of our lives.
If you were to give current students advice on landing a job, they are passionate about, what would it be?
The first is to never box yourself in. Be willing to adapt and be open to various careers and opportunities. For example, I got a broadcasting degree and ended up being a high school teacher for almost six years. I would have never thought I would be doing that. But I found that I was passionate about the work I was doing, and it was fulfilling.
The second thing is if something interests you or if someone is willing to sit down and have a conversation with you, always have the conversation or go to the interview. It’s not just an interview for the organization or the company, but it’s an interview for you as well.
These two things have served me really well. This role initially started as a “let’s get coffee, Nique” with the board president. I didn’t walk away from this casual coffee date thinking I was going to be the new CEO, but as I learned more and interviewed the team as well, I realized what a great fit it was for me professionally and personally.
Life happens, and life will continue to happen. You have to be open and focus on things you can control. You never know what kind of opportunity will present itself.
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