In the Cornhusker State, philanthropy is often measured less in scale than in connection — people showing up for one another, building trust over time and strengthening the places they call home.
For Matt Sehnert, that approach was formed by his parents and sharpened at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. It's an approach that’s yielded a lifetime of service to his community.
A McCook native and graduate of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Matt has emerged as a devoted advocate and mentor in his hometown. His impacts range from his community-minded approach to leading his family’s historic bakery to his involvements with the McCook community foundation, child advocacy programs and more.
He says his understanding of service began early, rooted in the example of his parents and the values they modeled long before he had language for them.
“My parents were a huge part of that foundation,” he explains. “They taught me a lot about how life should look.”
At UNL, those early lessons were tested and expanded. In the College of Business, coursework pushed him beyond theory into collaboration and problem-solving, where students worked through real-world challenges in teams.
“I had experiences that helped refine what my parents taught,” Matt says. “Through the business classes, you could make mistakes, go down different paths, and learn that it takes people, not just a single person’s effort, to make things happen.”
His experiences in Alpha Tau Omega fraternity reinforced that understanding, where service and philanthropy were woven into student life.
“There were structured philanthropic activities: service projects, fundraising events, and different things where you were consistently doing something for other people. It wasn’t something you chose occasionally — it was just part of what you did.”
That repetition mattered. It turned service into something habitual rather than intentional alone — something embedded in daily life. His wife was the one who encouraged him to see the ways it could be applied right outside his doorstep.
“She told me, ‘You don’t have to go halfway around the world to help somebody. You can do it right where you are.’”
When the couple moved from Colorado back to McCook to take over Sehnert’s Bakery, that outlook translated into a business model. Making a point to hire employees with disabilities was a major part of it.
“That’s probably one of the things I’m most proud of during our time running the bakery,” Matt says. “My wife always talked about how we’re blessed with so much, and so we always wanted to advocate for people with different experiences than our own.”
Matt has gone on to serve in leadership roles with the McCook Community Foundation Fund and remains active in local efforts focused on youth development, the arts and broader community investment.
The most important thing is bringing people together to think about what would make southwest Nebraska better.
Working with the local CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for Children and with other community leaders, Matt has helped organize regular communal dinners for families with the goal of facilitating more conversation — and connection — that heads off risky behaviors in youth.
“The goal was to try to get families to eat together once a week and just start teaching some of these really basic values that did so much for me when I grew up.”
Of course, when the need presents itself, he’ll show up for individuals as much as for the whole, too — he knows those impacts ripple out. It's why he helped a CASA leader raise the money to participate in a training that, ultimately, helped her help more local families.
He describes himself less as a driver of individual projects and more as a connector — linking people, ideas and resources so community efforts can move further together than they could alone.
“If there’s a specific need for a specific problem, I want to help be that link to the solution.”
That approach reflects his deep love for McCook and joy at the broader shift in civic culture he’s witnessed, where nonprofits, schools and community organizations have increasingly moved from operating independently to working in alignment.
He traces his collaborative spirit back to those earlier experiences working in philanthropy with his fraternity, meeting people around UNL’s campus and getting a better sense of how he could best apply the values he gained growing up in McCook.
I think what UNL did was really cultivate what I had learned at home growing up. It gave me practical experience in so many ways and helped me move on to the next part of my life. Even today, I feel like I’m still evolving and learning.
