Cultural Trail, charter schools and a greener Indianapolis get city’s leaders motivated to inspire, link and lead

Members of the Lacy Leadership Association have formed several volunteer task forces that came about after 200 community leaders – all members of the leadership organization – spent March 1 talking about creating a vision for Indianapolis’ future.
One group formed to discuss charter schools, focusing on public funding, legislation and community impact issues. Others are ready to get involved in the development of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, which will connect downtown neighborhoods through a bike and pedestrian trail. A third group intends to increase Indianapolis’ reputation as a “Healthy, Green City.”

“We asked our members to commit to a day of thinking, imagining and dreaming what Indianapolis can aspire to in the next 10 to 20 years,” said Theresa Farrington Rhodes, executive director of Lacy Leadership Association. “Most people found the event to be inspiring, and many have been motivated to take action.”

It is easy to be inspired when you learn firsthand from a group of business and city leaders, who several years ago joined together to figure out how to transform what once was known as IndyNoPlace to a world-class city. It took dreaming big, a huge leap of faith, and making connections in order to build a football stadium, an urban park and a downtown mall, explained members of the original City Committee. Several members of this group joined LLA members on March 1 to share their key insights. Attendees included Ted Boehm, Jim Browning, Tom King, Ned Lamkin, Louis Mahern, Bob Baxter, and Bill McGowan.

Lacy Leadership Association is developing a white paper based on the forum, which was the first of its kind for Indianapolis’ premier leadership network. LLA will also facilitate further discussions and help connect members who want to get involved.

For more information about LLA visit www.lacyleadership.org.

Theresa Farrington Rhodes
Executive Director
Lacy Leadership Association
phone: (317) 631-6542 ext. 176
fax: (317) 637-7020www.lacyleadership.org