Pure Nebraska: Generations gather for second annual youth connection summit

The communal dinner was the formal opening of the 2026 Youth Connection Summit, an event designed by Nebraska Community Foundation to encourage high school students from across the state to discover their potential to create positive change in their hometowns.

After dinner, the students entered The Golden Husk, Ord’s community-run theater, to listen as this year’s cohort of Hometown Interns read love letters to their communities in front of an in-person and online audience. The letters, which are interns’ final assignment before the end of the summer experience, delivered a procession of deeply felt insights into what it means to grow up in Greater Nebraska. They also provided insight into what it means to play a role in a community.

“This internship is truly unlike any other,” said Ella Schlake of Keith County. “I have come to see what is possible when people intentionally invest in relationships, listen to one another and create opportunities for community members to contribute.”

Hearing directly from interns means a lot to high school students seeking meaning in their own communities, said Savannah McCarty of McCook. She is a member of Youth Change Reaction, a youth subcommittee of the McCook Community Foundation Fund that organized the inaugural Youth Connection Summit in 2025.

“It really encourages a lot of the youth to continue with this,” the high school junior said. “I know I’m excited to someday be a Hometown Intern. I feel like that event just shows that these older kids, these college kids, find belonging in their hometown.”

The next morning, youth summit attendees from Minden, Bertrand, Spencer, Ravenna, McCook and Hebron gathered in downtown Kearney for a full day of connection and community-building. Alongside them were adults from their hometowns’ local NCF affiliated funds. Altogether, they put their minds toward understanding the ways in which rural Nebraska excels and toward uncovering the multitude of assets that make their communities unique.

During a walking tour of downtown Kearney, attendees were asked to put on their “curiosity glasses” and notice three things: something they liked, something they loved and something they found intriguing. Later in the day, they turned their investigations toward their own communities. Together, the students and adults listed their places’ assets and shared their hometown dreams.

As the day came to an end, the students reported their dreams with the group at large. Among those dreams were an activity center, more town gatherings, a centrally located school building, community beautification and more. They discussed how to talk to their neighbors about their projects and how to build consensus to make dreams reality.

Before adjourning, attendees gathered around as NCF’s Director of Asset-Based Community Development Becky Boesen and Youth Engagement Specialist Chloe Carlson announced that each affiliated fund present at the summit would be eligible for Youth Connection Experiment grants. If students decide on a project to pursue, NCF will grant up to $10,000, so long as the community provides a 1:1 match.

But money is not everything, as Carlece Kenner, a member of the Hebron Community Fund, noted. Showing young Nebraskans they can make a difference was the big win of the day.

“Today is powerful,” she said. “These kids are powerful.”