President and CEO Letter

The Foundation of our Work: Data, Insights and Collaboration

When I learned that Ivy Tech Community College’s ninth President, Sue Ellspermann, was retiring, the first thing I thought was this: Regardless of the positions Sue held over her career, it’s clear that meaningful opportunities for all Hoosiers were always top of mind.

During her 8-year tenure with the statewide community college system, Sue masterfully leveraged relationships with Indiana businesses to understand their talent needs and align Ivy Tech’s curriculum to meet those needs. One example: Ivy Tech’s CDL+ program that elevates the quality of training for new commercial truck drivers while eliminating the historic financial barriers to entry. More recently, Ivy Tech partnered with Purdue University to develop talent for Indiana’s growing microelectronics field.

As Indiana’s Lieutenant General and as President of Ivy Tech, Sue made sure Indiana understood the needs of industry and was prepared to meet those needs. Her leadership drove better alignment between post-secondary credit and Career and Technical Education (CTE), which is a main reason Indiana leads the nation in post-secondary credit earned during high school.

I like to think Ascend Indiana is positioned for greater impact by following Sue’s blueprint – one that brings people around the table to challenge the status quo, seek solutions and carry forward the most impactful programs.

As we enter the second half of 2024, you’ll see Ascend stepping up to strengthen relationships and leverage the expertise of educators, employers, community leaders and others so that all Hoosiers and all employers are equipped to thrive in Indiana’s evolving economy.

Through those relationships, we’ll have unique insights that will complement Ascend’s original research, surveys and publicly available data. Together, these resources will illuminate Indiana’s current and future economic strengths, job seeker and workplace trends, employer demands and the impact of innovation on the future of work.

We have an amazing network of thought leaders around the state and – like Sue Ellspermann did with Ivy Tech – I hope we can coalesce around some big opportunities and help to launch some big ideas that will benefit Hoosier jobseekers now and into the future.