Juarez finds her place at the Capitol

Above: Sen. Margo Juarez (second from right) and fellow members of the Guadalupanas, a community service group affiliated with the church she grew up in.

Sometimes it takes coming back to where you started to find a way to make a difference. That was the case for Omaha Sen. Margo Juarez.

The new senator grew up in Nebraska but left the state when her former husband’s career took the family to Utah in 1991. Having spent her entire life in Omaha, Juarez was excited and ready for a new adventure.

After retiring from positions in the federal government with the IRS and Social Security Administration, she moved back to Omaha. Once in Nebraska, her mother encouraged Juarez to move from her central Omaha townhome back to the old neighborhood.

“I told her, mom, I am not moving back to South Omaha,” Juarez laughed. “But here I am. The joke is that it took me all those years to move ‘out west’ from growing up on 22nd St. to 52nd St. where I live now.”

As she settled into her new life, doors began to open. She was encouraged to apply for appointment to a vacant seat on the Omaha Public School Board in 2021. Juarez said she initially declined. She’d never served in public office before and wasn’t sure that it would be the right fit.

After giving it more thought, however, Juarez changed her mind. It turned out that she enjoyed serving so much that she ran for the school board seat the next year.

“I never planned to seek elected office at the state level,” she said. “But my concern for public schools in our state pushed me to find a way to try and make a difference.”

That concern for her community also keeps Juarez busy working part-time at Mockingbird Hills Community Center and as a member of the South Omaha Neighborhood Alliance, as well as volunteering at her home parish of St. John’s.

She also kept busy helping to care for her mother, who lived with Juarez until just before her death in early February of this year at age 100.

“It taught me a lot about the issues surrounding elder care and families who are struggling to care for their parents,” Juarez said.

Those concerns were part of what led her to run for the District 5 seat when it became open due to term limits.

“I’m learning about a broad range of issues,” she said. “I’m trying not to be intimidated by the depth of the decisions that we’re going to have to make and focus on making the best decisions for my constituents.”

Back in her formative years, Juarez was the Girls State representative for Omaha South High School and ran for the simulation’s State Board of Education. She also served as a member of the student council in high school.

“I guess it’s been in my blood for a while,” she laughed. “Sometimes it just takes time to find your place.”