On Friday, May 19, our Class VI Fellows officially started their MDLF journey with Orientation at 16 Tech. We started the day hearing inspiring remarks from Mitch Daniels and were joined later in the day by a motivating panel of current and former board members: Nate Feltman, Meredith Gradle, Cathy Langham, David Shane, Greg Stowers and Matt Whiteside. 

New this year, each Fellow provided a five-minute “My Hoosier Story” presentation providing a glimpse into their worlds, what they uniquely bring to the cohort and why they chose to participate in the MDLF Fellowship.

We ended the day with a social at The Amp and also had the chance to cheer on the Indiana Fever at opening night thanks to the generosity of Pacers Sports & Entertainment.

While speaking with the Fellows, Mitch encouraged and advised them with sound guidance:

• While problems may change, principles do not. Each of you are on your way to significant leadership positions, across all sectors and the challenges you face will be different from those my teammates and I conquered. 

• Find a central philosophy. For me it’s service and the dignity and worth of every human. At the core, it’s about making opportunities for other people to achieve their full potential and supporting their upward mobility as we become a state of haves and yet to haves.

• Focus on tackling 50 caliber-sized problems, not BB-sized problems - even if those big opportunities will be hard to tackle.

• Be open and creative with your problem solving. Build relationships with your classmates and create a network of change agents. One of these days you will have a big idea and you won’t have to start from scratch because of this network.

• Gain new friends, ideas and a sense of duty to take the talent you have been blessed with to make positive change for our state.

We hope you are just as energized as we are and we look forward to a fantastic experience ahead with you, Class VI Fellows!