CAU Alumni Named as First African-American Director of Lincoln YWCA

Karen Bell-Dancy, graduate of Clark Atlanta University – School of Business, was recently named as executive director of the Lincoln YWCA, becoming the first African-American to hold the position.

Bell-Dancy is a Kansas City native who first came to Nebraska in 2006. Before beginning her work with the YWCA, she gathered a wide range of experience, ranging from business administration to experience within both universities and in private businesses, often running programs that would help promote diversity and leadership among students.

Bell-Dancy has a number of supporters who look forward to her work in the position. They believe she will apply her passion and talent to the work, and will be a true representative of such an organization that believes in diversity and change.

In discussing her new position, Bell-Dancy defaults back on her education and experience growing up in Kansas City. In a family that believed firmly in education, her father worked three jobs to help pay for his children to attend college. Specifically, the family advocated attending private, historically black colleges.

Bell-Dancy selected Clark Atlanta University, a school which she believed would provide a positive and enriching environment for her education. “(My mom) wanted me to get a real sense of the civil rights movement,” she said. “…a history of the African-American people and she wanted me to be in an environment that nurtured and cultivated my learning as a young adult.”

At CAU, Bell-Dancy worked towards a degree in psychology with a minor in education. According to her, the four years she spent at CAU were the best of her life. Since her time in Atlanta, she went on to achieve an Executive MBA while working at the University of Missouri- Kansas City. 

According to supporters, Bell-Dancy’s ultimate goal in all her work has been to empower students, specifically introducing them to the idea of higher education and their ultimate career path. Indeed, Bell-Dancy hopes to use her skills to change lives through the YWCA. “We should be able to say at the YWCA ‘we have changed a generation,” she said.

regions: Atlanta

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