CALLING YOUNG NEBRASKANS! You are invited to the first annual Youth Connection Summit in McCook, Nebraska! Join your fellow dreams, doers, innovators, and change makers for an overnight event with learning experiences spanning two days! See how other young Nebraskans are creating good in their places and get inspired to make your own! Designed and co-created with young adults, this hands-on immersive experience will center on the courageous voices and transformational stories of young Nebraskans just like you.
Additional Details
Starts: Wednesday, June 11 at 3:00 PM CST
Ends: Thursday, June 12 at 4:00 PM CST
Location: McCook, Nebraska
Interested in attending? Funds can apply to send young people at the link below. An NCF staff member will follow up within 30 days to discuss your fund’s interest, attendee details, and paperwork. Keep reading to see if your community is a good fit for this event!
Apply to AttendFund Applications close on April 15, 2025
Who Can Attend
- Affiliated Fund volunteers aged 21 and over who agree to accompany and supervise youth from their community
- High school youth, including 2025 graduates and incoming freshmen
Affiliated Fund Readiness
The Youth Connection Summit is an opportunity to funds already doing youth engagement work to sophisticate their practice through immersive experiences rooted in Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD). ABCD is an approach to community development that focuses on identifying and leveraging the strengths and assets within a community rather than emphasizing its deficits or needs.
By starting with a focus on assets and strengths, rather than needs and deficiencies, ABCD creates a more sustainable and resilient foundation for community development. ABCD focuses on:
- Abundance, not scarcity; Assets, not needs
- Opportunities, not deficiencies
- Invite people into conversation and co-create
- Incremental progress creates change that sticks
- Community-led and community-owned
- Build relationships before you need them
- People belong through having their gifts and talents received and appreciated
- Volunteer associations (i.e. community based affiliated funds) are very powerful and are essential to build community
Your community-based affiliated fund may be a great fit for the summit if you’ve participated in three or more of the following:
- Attended 2023 People Attraction Summit at Affiliated Funds Training in Kearney
- Hosted a Hometown Intern
- Participated in a Youth Survey
- Received an NCF Youth Engagement Grant
- Have a local youth fund in tandem with your affiliated fund
- Have an FAC member who is 18 years of age or younger
If you have questions about how we at NCF have established these readiness guidelines or if this summit may be a good fit for your affiliated fund, please contact Becky Boesen at bboesen@nebcommfound.org
Cost Per Attendee
Registration will be $150 per attendee for both youth and adults, to be paid by the Affiliated Fund. This will cover the cost of lodging, transportation, meals, activities, and tuition. This cost has been generously matched 1:1 by an anonymous donor to Nebraska Community Foundation.
Lodging
NCF will book your lodging at an area motel after you register for the event online.
Transportation
Affiliated fund volunteers are responsible for transporting youth to and from the event. Transportation during the event will be provided by NCF, and all attendees must utilize the NCF chartered bus during the summit.
Event policies
- All attendees who are 18 years old and over will be required to complete a background check, processed through NCF
- All affiliated funds who attend must bring at least 3 youth to participate
- Students must be accompanied by adults at a ratio of 1 adult to every three youth
- Student and adult attendees will be asked to sign and follow a code of conduct for the event. Breaking this code of conduct will result in the fund being dismissed from the summit.
- Parents/guardians of students will be asked to sign a waiver and to provide basic information about their young person.
- There will be two to four young people of the same gender in each hotel room.
- There will be no adults in youth hotel rooms or youth in adult hotel rooms.
Adult volunteers will attend a Zoom session prior to the summit to help establish expectations and create a sense of community.
Questions?
Chloe Higgins | 402.209.4668 | ChloeH@nebcommfound.org
Becky Boesen | 402.323.7347 | bboesen@nebcommfound.org
