We are thrilled to welcome Kendra Bryant as our new Director of Survivor Leadership!
She isn’t technically new to the Nebraska Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, though. You might recognize her as our previous Survivor Leadership Project Coordinator. In that role, Kendra led our peer mentorship program. As she steps into her new role, Kendra agreed to answer a few questions and help us get to know her better as the Director of Survivor Leadership.
Tell us about your new position and the work you’ll be doing.
Kendra: I recently stepped into the role of Director of Survivor Leadership at the Nebraska Coalition. In this role, I lead the Survivor Leadership Project, which creates opportunities for survivors to connect, grow, lead, and influence the systems that impact their lives.
The Survivor Leadership Project is grounded in the belief that lived experience is expertise. Through peer support, leadership development, training and education, and policy and systems advocacy, we create opportunities for survivors to bring their lived experience into leadership spaces and help shape programs, services, and systems.
My goal is to help fill gaps that exist after crisis services by creating opportunities for connection, community, leadership, and growth. My goal for the Survivor Leadership Project is to provide opportunities that help survivors move from surviving to thriving.
What inspired you to join the Nebraska Coalition?
Kendra: I was inspired to join the Nebraska Coalition because of the Survivor Leadership Project. It felt like an opportunity to help build something meaningful from the ground up while giving back to a community that played such an important role in my own journey. I also saw it as an opportunity to continue growing my leadership skills and learning from people doing incredible work across Nebraska.
What about your new role are you most excited about?
Kendra: What excites me most about this role is the opportunity to give back to the community that poured into me throughout my own journey. As a survivor, advocate, and leader, connection with others who had lived experience helped me navigate challenges, grow, and find my place in this work. I believe survivors have valuable knowledge, skills, and perspectives to offer, and I am honored to help create opportunities for survivors to bring their lived experience into leadership spaces and help shape programs, communities, and systems.
What should we know about you?
Kendra: One thing I’d like people to know about me is that a lot of the work I do is rooted in my lived experience.
In addition to my role at the Nebraska Coalition, I am a CASA volunteer and work part-time at the Juvenile Detention Center. Both roles are connected to my commitment to giving back to my community. They allow me to show up for young people navigating systems because I know how important it is to have people in your corner who believe in you.
At the end of the day, I believe people thrive when they feel connected, supported, and seen. Some of the most meaningful opportunities in my own life came from people who invested in me, challenged me, and helped me see possibilities for myself that I couldn’t always see on my own. I try to bring that same energy into everything I do.
What types of projects fill your bucket?
Kendra: The projects that fill my bucket are the ones that create connection and community. I love bringing people together, creating opportunities, and helping turn ideas into something real. If a project helps people feel more connected, supported, or empowered, I’m probably interested.
Outside of work, what does life look like?
Kendra: Outside of work, I’m a mom to four amazing kids and two fur babies, which means life is busy.
When I’m not working, I’m usually in the gym, listening to R&B, trying a new food, watching basketball, or going down a rabbit hole about whatever random thing I’m obsessed with learning about at the moment. As someone who loves learning, I’ve spent time reading about everything from the solar system to random topics I didn’t even know existed a few hours earlier.
I’m also a powerlifter, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a lover of Winnie the Pooh, Black art, the ocean, and The Lakers.
What makes you proud?
Kendra: There are a few things I’m proud of, but three that stand out are becoming a homeowner as a single mom, watching my oldest child complete her first year at an HBCU, and recently stepping into the role of Director of Survivor Leadership.
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