Since the launch of EmployIndy’s five-year strategic plan in 2017, the organization has more than doubled in size. Since Angela Carr Klitzsch (President & CEO) and Marie Mackintosh (Chief Operating Officer) were appointed as organizational leaders in 2016 by Mayor Joe Hogsett, new programs have launched to fill workforce and equity gaps for Indianapolis youth and young adults. These new programs and initiatives include:
Project Indy
Project Indy, Mayor Joe Hogsett’s youth jobs program, consists of a network of community organizations, employers, and corporate partners who are providing job opportunities, soft-skill development and job-readiness training to in-school and opportunity youth in Marion County.
Indy Achieves
In partnership with the City of Indianapolis, Ivy Tech, IUPUI and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, Indy Achieves ensures that every Indianapolis resident has the ability to pursue and complete a postsecondary credential or degree program while also empowering residents to pursue careers that put them on a pathway to the middle class.
Job Ready Indy
Job Ready Indy, in partnership with the Indy Chamber and the City of Indianapolis, is a workforce development initiative that aims to validate the attainment of job skills by participants through its online badging system.
Talent Bound
Talent Bound seeks to provide Marion County students with access to authentic work-based learning experiences, leveraging EmployIndy's network of engaged businesses to provide activities that increase informed decision making and develop critical skills needed to succeed in the future of work. This includes the recently launched Modern Apprenticeship (MAP), a paid two- to three-year career readiness program, where students will engage with local employers and emerge with a high school diploma, college credits, relevant credentials, and professional experience.
Existing programs within EmployIndy that have also expanded and/or been overhauled to better serve Marion County residents include: YES Indy, Jobs for America’s Graduates and WorkOne Indy. To support existing and growing initiatives like the Rapid Re-Employment Response and Indianapolis New Skills Ready Network, it was necessary for EmployIndy to embark on re-envisioning its human capital needs.
Over the past six months, EmployIndy has been creating a thoughtful, complex and innovative organizational redesign. The purpose of this restructuring is to improve internal operations and, as a result, serve a greater number of Indianapolis residents as Marion County’s Workforce Development Board. There are currently 49 individuals on staff full-time with plans to hire over 15 new positions in the coming year.
Through the guidance of First Person Advisors, EmployIndy’s leadership and staff journeyed through the unique process of re-inventing the company’s structure. Each member of the EmployIndy team participated in providing recommendations for the organizational redesign – from restructuring teams to inventing new positions and organizational workflows. Through participation and input, EmployIndy’s goal was to not just improve holistically, but improve intentionally in the following areas:
Strategy
Create a long-term vision and build excitement.
Work
Understand present and future needs as well as design a workflow to accommodate both.
Structure
Build the right connections to delight customers and partners.
Talent
Match capabilities of current and prospective staff to find the best roles.
Rewards
Motivate, measure and recognize success.
Culture
Current and future intentional shifts in behaviors.
During this process, we also furthered our core values of Empowerment, Integrity, Innovation, Customer Service, Collaboration, Inclusive and Results-driven to become a more equitable, engaging, and accepting organization. We know that in order to serve Marion County job seekers and our ecosystem of workforce partners well, we must keep these core values front and center in our daily work.
As a result of the organizational redesign process, many of our staff made upward or lateral moves within EmployIndy in an effort to make sure that our talent goal was being met. This also resulted in many of our employees receiving new position titles as well. In an effort to be both transparent and to ensure our partnerships throughout the community remain strong, below we’ve included a list of staff members who have been promoted (^), who have a new title and adjusted job description (*) or have been recently hired (+).
Executive Team
Rodney Francis, Chief Programs Officer ^
Tehea Harding, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer ^
Marie Mackintosh, Chief Strategy Officer ^
Chelsea Meldrum, Chief Development & External Affairs Officer ^
Belinda Denning, Senior Executive Assistant ^
Joslyn Cunningham, Executive Assistant +
Finance & Administrative Team
Carla Montgomery, Associate Director, Grants and Procurement ^
Pamela Bean, Manager, Human Resources ^
Quanece Carter, Associate Director, Accounting ^
Jefferson Raber, Grants and Contracts Manager ^
Natasha Pepper, Employee Relations Specialist *
Stephanie Moye, Grants and Contracts Manager +
Quincy Carter, Accounting Clerk +
Development & External Affairs Team
Kevin Duffy, Senior Director, Ecosystem Advancement ^
Ashley Downey, Associate Director, Learning and Tech Assistance ^
Robin Kildall, Associate Director, Development ^
Dawn Newerth, Associate Director, Performance Improvement ^
Kate Ryan, Associate Director, Strategic Communications ^
Connor Tomasko, Learning Management Systems Manager*
Kattoline Rospopo, Development Manager +
Carolyn Alvarez, Technical Systems Manager +
Strategy Team
Betsy Revell, Vice President, Talent Solutions ^
Kristen Barry, Senior Director, Research & Strategy +
Jay Styles, Senior Director, Business Partnerships +
Mechelle Polter, Director, Talent Bound ^
Cait Potter, Director, Strategic Initiatives ^
Mileah Gray, Director, Talent Network ^
Tracy Hartman, Business Development Manager*
Trish McDonald, Business Partnerships Account Manager +
Tracy Murphy, Business Partnerships Account Manager +
Matt Simpson, Talent Bound Manager, High School ^
Dwayne Donigan, Talent Bound Manager, CBO +
Ryan Brown, Youth Apprenticeship Manager +
Hope Lane, Youth Apprenticeship Manager +
Marie Wright, Youth Apprenticeship Manager +
Tammy Green, Recruitment Manager *
Tiffani McLaurin, Recruitment Manager +
Abby Smith, Recruitment Manager +
Addie Buzas, Data Analyst *
Essence Gray, Junior Salesforce Administrator, Intern +
Programs Team
Erika Cheney, Vice President, K-12 ^
Penny Dunning, Vice President, Career Services ^
Matt Impink, Vice President, Post-secondary ^
Esther Woodson, Director, Indy Achieves ^
Dionne Smith, Director, Neighborhood ^
Charlie Harris, Associate Director, Opportunity Youth ^
Beth Bowling, Director, K-12 ^
Bill Stetzel, Director, Career Services +
William Hall, RES Manager +
Kevin Lema, Indy Achieves Student Success Coach, IUPUI +
Jeermal Sylvester, Neighborhood Programs Manager *
Bryan Spellman, Career Services Manager +
Isiah Holmes, K-12 Student Recruiter & Outreach Specialist +
