Nebraska Community Foundation (NCF) is pleased to announce new roles for two former Hometown Interns, empowering them to further help NCF’s team of talented professionals build a Greater Nebraska.
Hannah Miller of Shickley and Natalie Roberts of McCook join NCF as Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Fellows, new roles that will support and unleash the gifts of the 2026 cohort of Hometown Interns. Both are former Hometown Interns, giving them unique insights that will help as they foster ABCD education and create avenues for learning and engagement for new and returning interns, community-based affiliated funds and Greater Nebraska Youth. This fellowship was made possible in part by the support of a private foundation.
After spending time away, Hometown Interns return to their community to re-engage with their place, cultivate self-assurance, exchange knowledge and help infuse fresh perspectives and an asset-based approach into their affiliated funds’ local initiatives. While the interns primarily focus on local endeavors, the internship includes “Operation Discovery,” a robust, NCF-led summer program. This educational component engages interns and supervisors to explore innovative strategies grounded in asset mapping and asset-based principles, ultimately driving progress towards community aspirations, and helping Nebraska hometowns achieve their dreams.
This will be Miller’s third year with NCF following two summers as a Hometown Intern with the Shickley Community Foundation Fund, an affiliated fund of NCF. Miller, a junior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, worked with her fellow Hometown Intern to record interviews with Shickley residents, documenting community stories for years to come.
McCook Community Foundation Fund (MCFF) hired Natalie Roberts, also a junior at UNL, to be the NCF affiliated fund’s summer 2025 Hometown Intern. In high school, Roberts and other members of a MCFF’s student-led Youth Change Reaction brought to local leaders their idea for a drive-in theater at the Red Willow County Fairgrounds. They took it upon themselves to fundraise $80,000 to realize that dream, and now the space regularly hosts film screenings for the community.
Working with NCF’s Director of ABCD Becky Boesen and Youth Engagement Specialist Chloe Carlson, Miller and Roberts will support the Hometown Internship experience through curriculum design and facilitation, peer learning session curation, and the creation of continued learning opportunities.
“Nebraska Community Foundation is committed to inviting and empowering the next generation of Nebraskans to voice their bold ideas for the future,” Carlson said. “Like all our Hometown Interns, Hannah and Natalie lived the values of asset-based community development. They are now well-equipped to walk alongside other young Nebraskans working to unleash their own hometowns’ assets, and we cannot wait to see their impact ripple across our entire network.”
To learn more about the Hometown Internship experience or to find an NCF affiliated fund in your area, visit www.NebraskaHometown.org.
