PHILANTHROPY IMPACT, Corporate and Foundation Partnerships

CREATING MEANINGFUL AND LASTING PARTNERSHIPS

Corporate and foundation partners help advance Indiana State University by providing important resources and opportunities for programs, faculty and students. During the 2021 fiscal year, these partners generously provided significant cash and in-kind donations to ISU.

“As technological advances lead to changes within the sector, it’s vitally important that the industry supports the education and training of young people as we drive to develop and inspire the packaging experts of the future. We strongly believe in investing in the future of our industry and have supported schools across the country in this way for a number of years now. We’re delighted to be able to continue that with this latest significant donation in kind.” — Melissa Plemen, Sr. Director of Inside Sales and Marketing, Esko

Esko, a global developer of integrated software and hardware solutions for the packaging industry, provided a multi-million-dollar in-kind gift of package engineering technology software to Indiana State. For the next three years, Esko will provide 50 software licenses to industry-leading programs. The partnership will keep ISU students on the cutting edge of the profession and promote a skilled workforce for Esko customers. ISU’s program has a 100 percent placement rate into jobs after graduation. This partnership continues the company’s two decades of support for the program.

“The insurance industry—and especially in the Midwest—is not very diverse. By helping grow the pie, we won’t be just trying to solve for Gibson, but rather we’ll be introducing more diversity into the industry as a whole.”

— Tim Leman, ’00

Tim is the Chairman and CEO of Gibson. The company has two scholarships at the University that support the University’s Insurance and Risk Management Program. For the 2021-22 academic year, the company refocused the scholarships to prioritize supporting minority and female students in the insurance and risk management program. The refocus of both funds will augment ISU’s new recruitment and career awareness diversity program in insurance and risk management.

“It is important to NAL that we focus on growing and keeping talent local to support the vigorous job opportunities presented in the area. The partnership with the University has been an effective way to touch many different areas on campus. As a result of our existing relationship, NAL has seen an increase in brand awareness on campus as well as numerous opportunities to interact with students in a variety of disciplines. These combined outcomes help generate an impressive talent pipeline of ISU students fit for future internship and full-time job opportunities at NAL.” — Kirk Gadberry, President and COO, North American Lighting “Indiana’s colleges and universities face myriad challenges as they work to fulfill their educational missions while adapting to growing financial pressures, rapid demographic and technological changes, and evolving needs and demands of students. We are pleased with the creative and collaborative approaches the colleges and universities are taking to address these challenges and seize opportunities to better serve their students, institutions, communities and the state of Indiana.” — Ted Maple, Vice President for Education, Lilly Endowment

The company’s philanthropic support named the North American Lighting Student Success Center in the College of Technology. Located on the first floor of the John T. Myers Technology Center the space is dedicated to connecting students with campus resources, facilitates tutoring, and serves as home for career-readiness initiatives within the college.

NAL’s philanthropic commitment supports a variety of ISU initiatives. For the College of Technology, NAL’s gift will enhance the Mechanical Engineering Technology Lab, support scholarships for the Mechanical Engineering Technology program and STEM education experiential learning programs, and grow networking opportunities and other student success initiatives. NAL will also provide scholarship support for the Scott College of Business and Sycamore Athletics sponsorships. Indiana State University received a $6.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment for “Sycamores Achieve,” a new program to improve retention and graduation rates of first-generation students, students of color, and students who qualify for federal Pell Grants.

ISU will collaborate with Ivy Tech Community College–Terre Haute to support students with more intensive, developmental and holistic advising to improve retention and four-year graduation rates. ISU and Ivy Tech-Terre Haute will work together to align services and curricula to expand the schools’ Pathway to Blue program. That’s an initiative for eligible firstyear students to take classes at Ivy TechTerre Haute while living on Indiana State’s campus. If successful, students will transition to enrollment at ISU as sophomores.

“The support we receive from our corporate and foundation partners is an important investment in our University, our students, and the entire community.” — Andrea Angel, Vice President of University Advancement and CEO of the ISU Foundation.