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UNO Career Connect 2026 Celebrates Internships, Employer Partnerships

UNO students and more than 200 employer partners built connections that turn classroom learning into paid, real-world experience.

  • contact: Sam Peshek - Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications
  • email: unonews@unomaha.edu
Students participate in a panel discussion

From left: Rosie Rangel Ayva Swift, Joe Connor, who interned at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, were part of a panel moderated by Jimena Riojas-Arenivas participate in an intern panel discussion during Career Connect. (Ryan Soderlin/UNO)

University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) students, employers, and campus partners gathered Tuesday at Milo Bail Student Center to celebrate the growing impact of paid internships and experiential learning through UNO Career Connect.

What’s new: Career Connect 2026 brought students and employer partners together for a student panel, the annual Career Connect Awards, and networking focused on expanding career opportunities for students. The initiative includes more than 200 businesses and organizations committed to supporting paid internship opportunities for UNO students.

Honorees:

  • Rising Star Intern Award: Tiena Chu, Student Therapist Intern at CHI Lasting Hope Recovery Center
  • Community Impact Intern Award: Litzy Kjar-Morales, Event Strategy and Engagement Intern at Aksarben Foundation
  • Innovation in Action Award: Steven Esquivel, Summer Intern at Fiserv
  • Intern of the Year Award: Chandler Scott, Civil Engineering Intern at Valmont Industries

Why it matters: Career Connect gives UNO students opportunities to apply what they learn in the classroom, build professional networks, and gain paid work experience before graduation. For employers, those internships create a direct connection to emerging talent while strengthening Omaha and Nebraska’s workforce.

What’s next: Students can explore Career Connect opportunities, and employers interested in joining the growing network can learn more on the Career Connect website.

Related: Read more about Rosie Rangel’s campus residence life internship with the University of South Dakota and Joe Conner’s internship at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

About the University of Nebraska at Omaha

The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is Nebraska’s premier metropolitan university, committed to innovating for the public good, advancing social mobility, powering workforce development, and serving as a hub for community engagement. Nearly 15,000 Mavericks choose UNO for its hands-on education experiences, nationally ranked online and graduate programs, military-connected student support, and innovative approaches to supporting lifelong learning. UNO holds the Carnegie Research Activity “R2” designation, securing more than $40 million annually in external research funding and counts its faculty among the world’s most cited scholars. Sixteen Omaha Athletics programs compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Summit League and National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). 

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