Ascend Indiana, the talent and workforce development initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), announced today three members to its Board of Directors.
The board members include Tina Peterson, president and CEO at Regional Opportunity Initiatives (ROI), Jacqueline Kronk, chief strategy officer at the Office of the Indiana Secretary of Education, and David Umulis, Purdue’s chief academic officer and senior vice provost for Indianapolis.
David is replacing board member Dan Hasler (former chief operating officer of Purdue University in Indianapolis) on the Ascend Indiana Board of Directors.
“Ascend’s board of directors is in a period of growth and has added key members to help strengthen its position as a statewide workforce development intermediary. Tina brings significant expertise to the board through her regional intermediary work focused on advanced industry sectors, regionalism, transformative school and workforce redesign and placemaking strategies. Our work with the Indiana Department of Education to build a system focused on student success is strengthened with Jacqueline’s appointment to the board and our ongoing partnerships with postsecondary institutions, such as Purdue, are enhanced with David’s appointment,” said Brad Rhorer, president and CEO of Ascend Indiana. “Combined, these three new members bring expertise in the areas of nonprofit excellence, public sector policy and education, all of which are key ingredients to delivering our mission to ensure all Hoosiers and all employers are equipped to thrive in Indiana’s evolving economy.”
Tina Peterson is the president and CEO of Regional Opportunity Initiatives (ROI), a position she has held since the organization’s founding in 2015. In her role, Tina works collaboratively with organizations to advance economic and community prosperity across the Indiana Uplands, an 11-county region in southwest central Indiana. Through regionally relevant and demand-driven initiatives, ROI focuses on industry cluster strategies, education, workforce and quality of place as essential determinants for regional success. ROI serves as the regional lead for IEDC’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) for the Indiana Uplands, managing more than $60M to catalyze economic growth in the Uplands region.
Tina is also President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County, an organization powered by giving and committed to addressing the community’s most pressing needs and compelling opportunities.
She currently serves as a member or an adviser on several regional, state and national boards, including the Applied Research Institute, Inc., the Uplands Science and Technology Foundation, the Community Advisory Board for the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, IU Ventures, the Crane Regional Defense Group, Indiana Philanthropy Alliance, CDFI Friendly Bloomington and Bloomington Dimension Mill.
Jacqueline Kronk is the chief strategy officer at the Office of the Indiana Secretary of Education, where she leads statewide efforts to align K-12 and higher education priorities. Charged with identifying change agents across all 92 counties, she works to drive partnerships and momentum behind Indiana’s most pressing education initiatives.
Prior to joining the department, Jacqueline served as CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Northern Indiana Corridor, guiding the organization through a period of remarkable growth and regional impact. Her perspective is also shaped by her time in Cambodia, where she helped lead a social enterprise rooted in community empowerment.
David Umulis is Purdue’s chief academic officer and senior vice provost for Indianapolis. A Purdue faculty member since 2008, David is a distinguished research leader, mentor and administrator. His work, funded by the NIH, NSF and Showalter Foundation, spans computational biology, imaging and biomedical engineering.
In addition to his Provost’s Office role, he is PI and director of the NSF EMBRIO Institute, a multidisciplinary collaboration using AI, imaging and engineering to study wound healing and cellular defense. Previously, he was the Dane A. Miller Head of Purdue’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, advancing research in biomedical imaging, neuroengineering and biomaterials.
