Central Community College to Hold Winter Commencement

(Grand Island, Neb.) – Central Community College will honor its December graduate candidates during the Fifth Annual Winter Commencement ceremonies at 2 p.m. on Dec. 12 in the Raider Fieldhouse at the Columbus Campus.

The candidates were enrolled at one or more CCC locations, which include the Columbus, Grand Island and Hastings campuses and Holdrege, Kearney, Lexington and Ord centers.

The keynote speaker will be Traci Skalberg, executive director of the Central Community College Foundation, whose history with CCC goes back to her teens when she completed 47 credit hours first as a dual-credit student at Columbus High School and then as a first-year student at CCC-Columbus. She went on to graduate from Doane University, earn a certificate in fundraising management from Indiana University, and become an Education Foundation Certified Leader through the Sanford Institute of Philanthropy.

As an adult, she reconnected with CCC by taking community education classes and now as a parent watching her daughter graduate with this class.

When she joined the CCC Foundation in 2022, she brought 28 years of nonprofit experience with her, most recently as executive director of the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation. Since returning to CCC, she has led the foundation in fundraising for projects such as the Pirnie Inclusive Playground in Grand Island and the Automotive Careers Training Center in Hastings and expanding scholarships and opportunities across CCC’s 25-county service area.

Skalberg is a Leadership Hastings and Hall County Leadership Tomorrow graduate, a Top 35 Under 35 honoree, a Sherwood Foundation Community Catalyst and the Grand Island Independent’s 2014 Woman of the Year. She has served as president of the National Association of Education Foundations and founder of the Nebraska Association of Public School Foundations and is an active member of Peace Lutheran Church in Grand Island.

She and her late husband, Barry, have three children: Samuel, Cara, and Lucas.