Ken Zoucha, MD, Addiction Medicine Division Director, has received the Education Rights Counsel’s Aequitas Awards: Community Champion Award.
The Community Champion Award is given to community members or public servants dedicated to systemic change in education. The Omaha-based Education Rights Counsel has a mission to improve education for students and their families, to ensure that all students stay in school and thrive academically.
In a press release announcing the award, Lauren Vargas, M. Ed, JD, CEO and Co-Founder of Education Rights Council, wrote about Dr. Zoucha, “Your care for youth in the juvenile system, dedication to supporting their mental health, and your unwavering advocacy for their education make you such a powerful force for good. The way you walk alongside kids, offering both support to them individually and pushing for bigger changes in the system, shows just how deeply you believe in them. The thoughtful, compassionate way you do this work is something to be truly admired and celebrated.”
This Community Champion Award will be presented at Education Rights Counsel’s Annual Fundraiser “An Evening in the Cloud Room” on Thursday, November 13, 2025, from 5:30-8 p.m., at Blackstone Plaza in Omaha, Nebraska.
“It is an amazing honor to receive this award from the Education Rights Council. I very much respect the work that they do,” said Dr. Zoucha. “The organization works with youth at DCYC (Douglas County Youth Center) and Radius, and I have been working alongside them, asking for help for various kids, and have found them to be passionate and very intelligent about education rights.”
Dr. Zoucha is a recognized leader of addiction medicine in the State of Nebraska and serves as the Program Director for the Addiction Medicine Fellowship at UNMC. He is board certified in pediatrics and addiction medicine. Dr. Zoucha has extensive experience and specializes in the treatment of substance use disorders in adolescents and has served as medical director for several youth secure care placement facilities throughout the state, serving youth with a broad array of experiences, backgrounds, and trauma.