Our family’s commitment to emerging leaders
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Just a few months ago, we announced Class XLVII of the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series. It is an annual tradition that applauds the role emerging leaders play in our city. It is a time of celebration and optimism. But what many people may not know, is that SKL was born out of tragedy.
In 1973, Stanley K. Lacy, better known to his friends and family as Lucky, was a banker and enthusiastic participant in the civic landscape of Indianapolis. He was in his mid-twenties, driving home from a Jaycees meeting, when his life was cut short by a car accident. Edna Balz Lacy, grappling with the loss of her youngest son, channeled her grief into action. She established the Stanley K. Lacy Foundation in his honor and worked with Carl Dortch, then-President of the Indy Chamber, to start the SKL series in 1976 through the Indy Chamber. Edna established a commitment to supporting emerging community leaders that our family feels just as strongly today. The Foundation, now operating as the Lacy Foundation remains the sole funder of SKL, which has been the flagship program of Leadership Indianapolis since 2013, an organization that provides opportunities to leaders at various stages of their community leadership journey.
It is stunning to realize that SKL now has nearly 1,200 alumni. I, myself, am a proud graduate of SKL, as is my husband Peter, my brother-in-law JA and my sister-in-law, Elizabeth. One of my greatest joys is seeing what class members go on to do after they finish the program. Graduates of SKL are doing remarkable things in, and for, our city. They are serving in elected office. They are starting new businesses that drive us into the future. They are running organizations that address critical issues. They are working in neighborhoods where important conversations are taking place. To be clear, these people would have gone on to be remarkable leaders without SKL. But I like to think that because of their SKL experience, they are able to lead more confidently, more compassionately, and more collaboratively. That the idea of community weighs heavily on them as they make big decisions. That they build genuine relationships with people with whom they disagree and they intentionally make space at every table for others who can bring a different perspective.
So much of Indy’s identity is rooted in the work of community leaders. But we can’t take for granted that we will always have people ready to step up and lead. We have to nurture a culture that values community leadership. We have to support emerging leaders who want to contribute to the city’s future. We have to invest in organizations that develop and connect the people who are stepping up to be problem-solvers and solution-finders for our most pressing issues.
I am proud of the investment that our family has made in emerging leaders over the past 48 years and am excited to continue that commitment well into the future. I hope you will join us by finding your own way to support and encourage emerging community leaders who are making Indy better for everyone.
Jill Lacy is the President of the Lacy Foundation, the private charitable foundation established by the Lacy family. She also serves on the board of Leadership Indianapolis, the Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Women’s Fund of Central Indiana and the Ball State University Foundation.
