Jayna Schaaf has been honored to serve as the Community Connections Executive Director for 27 years. Throughout her tenure, she has been an advocate for healthy communities through collaborative work. She works with a small but spectacular team with substance abuse prevention and youth development being the primary focus of Community Connections programming in recent years.  Jayna has written and administered over 185 grants and staffed 12 programs and coalitions. She has helped secure more than $10,500,000 in grant funding for North Platte and Lincoln County.

Jayna is a member of the Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful Board, the Nebraska Juvenile Justice Association Board, the Hope Esperanza Board, the county’s juvenile Community Planning Team and the Great Plains Health Board.  She proudly volunteers as a Community Connections mentor and is an advocate for and 100 Women Who Care. Building a compassionate and equitable society is Jayna’s most compelling motivation for her work and other activities.

Jayna lives in North Platte with her husband, Cameron Craig who is the Nebraska Department of Transportation District 6 District Engineer.  Jayna and Cameron are blessed with five nieces and four nephews. Jayna is always eager to travel to new destinations, appreciates a good book, and enjoys challenging hikes and weightlifting in her free time.