Amy Omi, assistant director for justice, equity and inclusion at Dominican University was honored by the Illinois Holocaust Museum for being and creating a positive change in her community on campus.
Omi received the inaugural Luminary Award from the Illinois Holocaust Museum’s Young Professional Board and was presented with the award Tuesday, Oct. 10 at the Young Professional Board’s 10th anniversary fundraiser.
Omi was honored for her work with Dominican’s Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center, which aims to resist racial injustice and social inequity on campus and the community.
Omi began her career at Dominican 14 years ago and has served in her current role for the past three years.
“Dominican University and the Sinsinawa Sisters have a very strong social justice commitment,” Omi said. “I had the freedom to really explore those areas of social justice and I got more involved in those activities and programs.”
During that time, Omi’s initiatives created Racial Healing Circles, a practice where participants learn to “see themselves in each other,” according to a news release. Omi also helped create affinity circles, where groups were able to share needs and concerns. Both were open to students, faculty and staff of Dominican.
Circles come from indigenous practices, Omi told Wednesday Journal, explaining they is important to be mindful and give gratitude to those “who really developed this as a way of life” for centuries.
“We just need ways to be able to listen better, to get to know one another and understand that sometimes these misunderstandings are just the way we were socialized,” Omi said.
According to officials, Omi was instrumental in launching the College Leadership Summit: Make Your Voice Count, which is now held annually at the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie.
A former volunteer with the Illinois Holocaust Museum, Omi said she helped develop the program for almost three years.
“It is such an honor to have contributed to the development of this incredible program and to be recognized by the Illinois Holocaust Museum for my involvement,” Omi said in a statement. “As a restorative justice practitioner, I am deeply committed to building community across culturally and spiritually diverse traditions, and doing so in collaboration.”
As the assistant director for the office of justice, equity and inclusion, Omi does work around LGBTQ+ competency as well as critical whiteness to help understand race as a social construct.
“Me as a white person, a lot of my focus has been on doing my own self-reflection to better understand how I have been socialized into a way of being and perceiving the world that has an internalized sense of dominance,” Omi said.
Being recognized by YPB is the “coolest thing,” she said.
“There is a rise in antisemitism, there is a rise in Islamophobia, so how do we as everyday citizens take responsibility for that?” Omi said. “We have a role to play.”
How do you counteract that? By engaging and building relationships, intentionally, with people who are different from us, she added.
“Otherwise, we risk losing the very democracy that was so hard fought after,” she said.
The first Luminary Award was won by Omi, along with Micah Ariel-Rohr, assistant director of the Israel Education Center at the Jewish United Fund in Chicago and Dion Dawson, founder of Dion’s Chicago Dream, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting food insecurity in Chicago by delivering fresh produce to people’s homes.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to honor these three luminaries for the impactful work they are doing in their communities to make a positive change in the world,” said YPB co-chairs AJ Greenberg and Melanie Lachman in a statement. “Their day-to-day actions can inspire people of all ages to combat hatred, prejudice and indifference, and serve as a reminder that every one of us has the ability to take a stand.”
“It is a lot of fun, it is a lot of work, but I enjoy it,” Omi said.