On Tuesday, February 13, our Club welcomes the Manager of two time World Champions Indy Thunder Beep Baseball team Darnell Booker to our Club!  Booker will share more information about beep baseball and how the sport allows those who are blind and visually impaired to participate in competitive sports at the local and national levels.  He’ll also share information about how these inspiring athletes play America’s pastime and benefit from the social skills, team work, and sportsmanship that sports can offer.

Booker, a graduate of the Indiana School of the Blind and Visually Impaired and Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis (IUPUI), currently performs outside sales for Bright Ideas and works with youth and adults with mental and physical disabilities.  He is the current Second Vice President of the National Beep Baseball Association and is passionate about his sport and his team! Join us on Tuesday and we bet YOU’LL walk away inspired too.

The Indy Chamber has partnered with the Brookings Institution and IU Public Policy Institute to study inclusive growth in the Indy Region.

While many parts of our region are thriving, poverty is increasing and too many jobs are going unfilled. The Indy Chamber, along with many partners are developing strategies for inclusive growth to ensure shared prosperity for both people and firms. At this meeting, we’ll present the findings from our six month learning lab that will be pivotal for Accelerate Indy and our advocacy agenda going forward.

Join Mark Fisher, Chief Policy Officer for the Indy Chamber and colleague Matt Impink as they share the fascinating findings about our City and our opportunities for more inclusive growth.

Join us on Tuesday, January 30 as we welcome Jeri Warner, founder and Executive Director of Trusted Mentors, a leading provider of mentoring relationships that empower at risk adults to remain housed and out of prison.

Started in 2003, Trusted Mentors has a consistent record of successful outcomes. In 2016, 90% of their mentees did not re-offend while in contact with their mentors. They now provide trained, volunteer mentors to clients of 26 local agencies including Children’s Bureau, Second Helpings and RecycleForce. In 2016, Trusted Mentors was honored to be 1 of 5 agencies to receive the Visionary Award by the Indianapolis Foundation.

Prior to starting Trusted Mentors, Ms. Warner served 10 years as Pastoral Associate at Sacred Heart Parish. She holds an MA in theology from St. John’s University in Minnesota. Join us on Tuesday- and maybe bring along your own special mentee for our meeting!

As president of trueU, an Indianapolis-based non-profit organization, Kyle DeFur leads a movement of like-minded businesses that believe the way to grow your business is by growing people. This innovative, membership-based organization has grown to over 50 member companies, in its brief 3 year history. Prior to leading trueU, Kyle held executive leadership positions in hospital administration for over 25 years. He most recently served for 7 years as president of St.Vincent Indianapolis Hospital, a 950-bed, $1.3 billion hospital organization in Indianapolis with more than 5,500 employees and 1,500 physicians.

In this talk Kyle will share about his personal journey that brought him to follow his passion to work with growing companies who desire to grow through the personal growth of its staff. Kyle shares examples of a number of businesses from the greater Indianapolis area who are making a difference through creating dynamic cultures that focus on helping their employees be the best version of themselves that they can be.

The United Way of Central Indiana is turning 100 years old! Join us to celebrate the incredible things this agency does for our community and learn about even more incredible initiatives they have planned for their anniversary year in 2018.

Prior to joining the United Way of Central Indiana in 2013, Ann Murtlow served as an AES Corporation executive and president & CEO at Indianapolis Power & Light Company (IPL) where she became one of the few female chief executives in the electric utility industry.

Heavily involved in the community, Ann serves on the boards of the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee, Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and The Mind Trust. She is a director of First Internet Bank, Great Plains Energy and Wabash National Corporation. She also served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago from 2007 to 2012.

Tuesday will also be a Guest Day at Rotary, so be sure to bring a friend, colleague or family member who would find the value in the Rotary Club of Indianapolis. .

What strategy do you need to take your workplace to the next level when you’re retired in 5, 10 or 15 years? It’s taken you years to build your skills, brand, and product, right? Consider planning now – so that your future leaders are taking their own strategic journey to build the skills needed to take your legacy to the next level!

Sound like something you want to learn more about? Join us at Rotary next Tuesday, January 2 (yes, that’s right, the day after New Year’s Day) to learn how Wayne Schmidt, CEO and Founder of Schmidt Associates took almost 10 years to grow and support new CEO Sarah Hempstead as he executed his transition plan. You’ll also hear of some surprises and incidentals that got in the way and how his planning really paid off in more ways than anyone could’ve imagined.

As always, feel free to bring a guest- a client, friend or business partner that might find value in the presentation, and value in our Rotary programming.