Civic Nebraska honors Katie and Schuyler Sharp with the 2026 Founder’s Award for turning a critical community need into sustainable institutions that strengthen families and support the future of Fullerton.
In a small community, access to child care affects far more than a family’s daily schedule. It can determine whether parents can work, whether businesses can attract employees and whether young families can continue calling that community home.
When Katie and Schuyler recognized that Fullerton and the surrounding Nance County community lacked adequate child care, they did not wait for someone else to solve the problem.
In 2024, they became founding members of Fullerton’s Future, Inc., a nonprofit child care center and preschool serving families across the area. The center created an essential resource for working parents while helping establish the foundation for long-term community and economic growth.
Fullerton’s Future has since secured a partnership with Communities for Kids, an initiative that helps communities strengthen early childhood development and create conditions in which children, families and communities can thrive.
The Sharps also understood that opening the center was only the beginning. Sustaining it would require another creative solution.
In 2026, they helped open Fullerton’s Future Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit thrift store designed to benefit the local economy while generating ongoing financial support for the child care center and preschool. By expanding access to child care, Katie and Schuyler are making it easier for families to remain in and invest in Fullerton while supporting workforce and economic growth. Their work demonstrates how one community-led solution can create ripple effects across an entire town.
Investing in child care has ripple effects across the community. Where families were once deciding whether to stay in town because of a lack of child care, they are now investing.
For Katie and Schuyler, investing in Fullerton is also deeply personal. Both grew up in the community and graduated from Fullerton High School before attending college in Lincoln. In 2018, they returned home to build their careers and raise their two children, Hudson and Lainey.
Katie earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska College of Law. While in law school, she represented low-income clients through the Civil Clinic, volunteered throughout Lincoln and worked as a law clerk in the Lancaster County Public Defender’s Office. Today, she is an attorney with Jarecki, Sharp & Petersen in Albion and uses her legal experience to help form and advise nonprofit organizations.
Schuyler earned a master’s degree in professional accountancy from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and became a certified public accountant. He now works as a loan officer at First Bank and Trust of Fullerton. While attending college, he also interned with state and local political campaigns, contributing financial expertise and supporting grassroots efforts.
Since returning to Fullerton, both have found ways to use their professional knowledge, time and relationships to strengthen the community they call home.
Katie serves with the Catholic Future Foundation of Northeast Nebraska, the Fullerton Area Economic Development Corporation and the Fullerton Chapter of the P.E.O. Sisterhood. She previously served on the parish council at St. Peter’s Catholic Church and participated in Civic Nebraska’s third Idea of America cohort.
Schuyler has served as president of the Park Board, treasurer of the Nance County Fair Board and an establishing member and treasurer of Fullerton Youth Recreational Sports Teams. He currently serves as a TeamMates mentor, youth football coach, president of the Nance County Foundation and member of the Tourism Board.
Across these roles, their approach remains the same: recognize a need, contribute what they can and work alongside others to create a solution.
Receiving the Founder’s Award is meaningful to Katie and Schuyler because it recognizes not only their efforts, but also the community that helped turn their ideas into reality.
“We felt there were needs and knew we could use our knowledge and skills to take action to solve those problems. More than anything, we’re grateful to be part of a community where so many people are willing to step up, work together and invest in the future of Fullerton.”
Their understanding of civic engagement extends far beyond elections, political campaigns or public office.
“To us, civic engagement means taking responsibility for the community you call home. It can be coaching a youth team, serving on a board, volunteering, mentoring or simply seeing a problem and deciding to do something about it.”
That belief also shapes how they understand democracy. Democracy is strongest, they say, when people participate, listen to one another and work toward something larger than themselves.
Katie and Schuyler Sharp are recipients of the Founder’s Award because they have done more than address an immediate need. They have helped build institutions designed to endure, creating new opportunities for families and inviting their neighbors to invest in Fullerton’s future.
Celebrate Katie and Schuyler and their fellow honorees at Civic Nebraska’s Strengthening Democracy Awards on Sept. 17.
2026 Founder’s Award Mention
Kelly Ross