Sarena Dacus joined ICF in 2017 as a contractor with the Administration for Children & Families on the Region VII Office of Head Start Training and Technical Assistance team. Ms. Dacus currently serves as the Health Specialist on the TTA team. She works with Head Start grantees across Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri to support the development of healthy and safe environments, programs and services for children and families.
It has always been her priority to remain actively involved in many community initiatives across the Omaha, NE metropolitan area. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Women’s Fund of Omaha (WFO) as well as on the Advisory Board for the I Be Black Girl collective. Most recently Ms. Dacus joined the Leadership Team for the Nonprofit Executive Institute training program for new nonprofit leaders led by the Nonprofit Association of the Midlands (NAM). She also serves as a mentor to young nonprofit professionals through the Rising Leaders Institute. Furthermore, she participates on the Heartland 2050 Equity & Engagement Committee and the Healthy Families Advisory Committee for the Iowa West Foundation.
In addition, Ms. Dacus has completed training in the Technology of Participation (TOP ®) Facilitation Methods, and leads and facilitates events for a variety of community coalitions, public health initiatives, and non-profit organizations. Such projects have included consultation on strategic planning, organizational and team effectiveness, program evaluation, and navigating difficult conversations around equity, diversity & inclusion.
Ms. Dacus is a graduate scholar of the Great Plains Leadership Institute as well as the NAM Nonprofit Executive Institute. In 2016 she was recognized as one of the Midlands Business Journal’s 40 under 40 outstanding professionals. Her educational experience includes a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from St. Louis University with a minor in Spanish and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In 2014 she became certified as a Parent Educator through Parents as Teachers, which has proven to be quite beneficial as she and her husband, RaShad, are the proud parents of a 10 year old daughter, Emery, 7 year old son, Everett, and 2 year old son, Oakland.
