Brian Bartels, a partner in Kutak Rock’s Omaha office, lent his insight at “Unity in Diversity: Working Together to Achieve Success,” a symposium co-hosted by the Nebraska Paralegal Association and the Omaha Bar Association held June 5 at the Scott Conference Center. The panel focused on “Policies, Procedures and Programs: Successes and Lessons Learned from the Trenches.”

Keynote speaker for the event was Ryan Sallans, an accomplished transgender speaker, author, and advocate who helps institutions create inclusive environments that support LGBTQ employees, students, clients, and patients. Other panelists included attorney Joni Stacy, Professional Transgender Resource Network board member; Angela Cooper, vice president and chief diversity officer at Mutual of Omaha; Keaton Mercer, senior manager in TD Ameritrade’s brokerage operations division and member of its local Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee; and Susan Koenig, attorney and founder of Koenig|Dunne, trustee of the Business Ethics Alliance, Nebraska State Bar Association Foundation board member, and International Coach Federation member.

Mr. Bartels is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice group and advises employers on employee benefit plan issues, including group health plans, the Affordable Care Act, HIPAA, ERISA, wellness programs, cafeteria plans, flexible spending arrangements, health savings accounts, administrative services agreements and business associate agreements, and other health and welfare matters.

In 2018, he was one of 40 recipients of the National LGBT Bar Association’s 40 Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 award. In 2013, the Judiciary Committee of the Nebraska Legislature invited him to testify regarding the United States v. Windsor decision on the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Mr. Bartels is a former co-chair of, and active participant in, Kutak Rock’s LGBTQIA+ Allies Affinity Group.