2022 Year in Review
Dear Friends of MDLF,
As 2023 begins, I would like to recount all of our activities and great moments from last year. 2022 was another year of organization growth, strategic traction and operational excellence for the Mitch Daniels Leadership Foundation. Highlights include: welcoming our fifth Class of Fellows, hiring a new Executive Director, delivering our first MDLF Case Study, receiving a Lumina Foundation Grant, resurrecting our Annual Event and launching our Smart Network!
Our team is working to develop Hoosier leaders who are collectively improving Indiana’s economic promise and prosperity and we couldn’t advance our mission without our Board, Fellows, funders and you, our key stakeholders.
In the next five years, I have a bold vision of success for our Foundation: Over 200 MDLF Fellows from at least 50 counties by 2027.
I’m proud of all that we’ve accomplished in this last year as an organization.
The following information highlights major activity and milestones for MDLF in 2022.
Fellowship Program
Announced and welcomed our fifth Class of MDLF Fellows, now with 100 Hoosiers representing 21 counties who have participated in the program
Hosted twelve Year-1 classes across Indianapolis, Carmel, West Lafayette, Evansville, South Bend and Fort Wayne
Featured lecture classes and Liberty Fund Conferences on the topic of global and local economic, education and healthcare systems
Integrated into Class readings and studies how the principles of strong leadership, individual freedom, and critical thinking can make our state stronger
Hosted two Aiming Higher Events featuring Eli Lilly and Company’s CEO, Dave Ricks, and High Alpha’s CEO, Scott Dorsey, with over 50 Fellows participating
Defined, communicated and implemented Year 1 + 2 Capstone Programming, schedule and resources for Classes IV & V
Defined, developed and launched the MDLF Case Study Library
Delivered the first two MDLF Case Studies on the Bureau of Motor Vehicles Reform and Purdue Polytechnic High School
Tracked and recognized 31 Fellows since July 2022 who have been promoted, joined boards, been featured speakers or achieved some leadership recognition/achievement
Featured seven Fellows on the MDLF Blog
Deployed a video and paid advertising campaign to promote the 2022 Fellowship Program
Launched the MDLF Fellowship Social Committee who plans gatherings before and after every Class day
Solicited nominations for the first ever Outstanding Fellows Award and recognized four former Fellows at the Annual Event
Team Management
Implemented key elements of the Entrepreneurial Operating System
Standing weekly L10 team meetings
Standing weekly one-on-one meetings
Quarterly scorecard created and reviewed/updated weekly
Implemented Asana for project management
Developed and implemented strategic plan dashboard
Board Engagement
Met with 11 board members individually to strategize and hear their perspectives on our work and opportunities for improvement/focus
On-boarded four new board members successfully
Slated board members and approved officers/committees
Updated/approved committee charters and scheduled 2022-2023 committee/board meetings
Solicited nominations for the Daniels Prize Award and announced Bill Oesterle as the 2022 winner
Internal Operations
Developed and organized shared team Google Drive
Documented and implemented team expectations, policies and procedures
Outsourced bookkeeping and tax prep to a CPA
Completed communications audit and defined/prioritized marketing benchmarks
Donor Stewardship
Launched and planned the December 8, 2022 MDLF Annual Event with over 300 attendees
Deployed monthly email to over 2,000 subscribers and 41% open rate
Received Salesforce Nonprofit Starter Pack approval + implementation underway
Met with former and current MDLF Fellows and hosted informational webinars
Proposed themes, content and speakers for 2022-2023 Aiming Higher series
Conducted 71 donor meetings
Received a $100,000 Lumina Foundation Grant to support our MDLF Fellowship recruitment and education efforts
Launched a statewide “MDLF Smart Network” campaign to connect MDLF Fellows with mentors to help support, coach and advance their Capstones with 73 Members
Overall, we are thrilled by our active year and are looking forward to driving further impact and a deeper reach this year. We greatly appreciate your efforts in moving MDLF forward and are optimistic about “Enabling Leaders” and “Driving Change” together.
Cheers,
Lauren James | MDLF Executive Director
