Lincoln Community Foundation

LCF sources its direct investments through a board that includes senior leaders from Pinnacle Bank, Duncan Aviation, Olsson, and Lincoln Industries. These relationships give the foundation a deal-flow pipeline into Lincoln-based commercial projects, civic infrastructure initiatives, and early-stage ventures. The foundation also functions as a fiscal agent for the City of Lincoln, administering ARPA grant funds that further embed it in local capital-allocation decisions.

Yes. Its strategy tags include early-stage seed, start-up, and expansion or late-stage venture, focused on local companies. The foundation partners with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Raikes School on a technology internship program, a setup that creates a natural pipeline into the campus innovation ecosystem.

The foundation owns its headquarters building at 215 Centennial Mall S in Lincoln and has led a mixed-use project at 2980 Holdrege Street that combines an affordable housing component with the Eden Child Care Center. These are direct, not fund-level, property holdings that advance community-development goals.

Investment and fiduciary oversight sit with a board composed of senior operating executives from Lincoln-based institutions. Known directors include Mark Hesser (President of Pinnacle Bank), Aaron Hilkemann (CEO of Duncan Aviation), John Olsson (Executive Vice President of Olsson), and Kassy Knudson of Lincoln Industries. Their combined expertise spans banking, aviation, engineering, and manufacturing, creating an actively engaged governance layer rather than a purely advisory one.

It operates as both. The traditional community-foundation function — donor-advised funds, bequests, and grants — coexists with a direct-investment portfolio that includes commercial real estate, alternative investments, and venture exposures. Its administration of ARPA funds for the City of Lincoln adds a quasi-municipal finance layer not typical of most community foundations.

LCF runs Lincoln Littles, a focused initiative supporting early-childhood development and education access in Lincoln. The main foundation body handles grantmaking across multiple donor-designated fields, with the endowment and direct-investment portfolio funding operational and programmatic costs.

Key partners include the City of Lincoln through Prosper Lincoln and ARPA administration, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln through its Raikes School internship program, and the Woods Charitable Fund, which originally provided the grant for LCF's headquarters building. The foundation also belongs to the Community Foundation Opportunity Network, linking it to nationwide large-community-foundation peers.