Hackney: Greg Ballard’s new cause — women in tech

Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard may have vacated the City-County Building last year, trading in his tie for a golf shirt, but his desire and drive to put Indy on the map doesn’t appear to have dimmed.

Ballard is working behind the scenes to bolster the region’s standing in the science and technology industries — and boost the number of women entering those fields. I recently sat down to talk with him about why this effort, in particular, is worthy of his time and commitment.

Ballard said his emphasis on workforce development — while in office and now — and on cementing Indy’s future as a livable, thriving and competitive metropolis remain his top priorities. He says the gap between men and women entering science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines could devastate the tremendous gains Central Indiana has experienced as a Midwest technology hub.

“The number of open tech jobs that are going to be out there in 2020, 2030 is estimated in the millions,” Ballard told me. “Unless we have more women heading into tech, its going to be a problem filling those jobs, and they might go somewhere else overseas.”

Ballard has joined forces with Dan Towriss, president and chief executive officer of Guggenheim Life & Annuity, to create the Indy Women in Tech initiative, a three-pronged approach to increasing the number of women who study and work in technology.

“Our corporate social responsibilities focus on education, inclusion and diversity in the workforce as a foundational point of view,” Towriss said. “We’ve had conversations about where we could make a difference in the community. I thought it was time for my company to step up.

“The discussion was really about what was important to Indianapolis and what could help move the needle for Indianapolis in an area that wasn’t being covered,” he said. “There’s a lot of good things going on already, so we wanted to work with the landscape we saw here and that’s how we landed on this workforce issue.”

There’s already been a big splash, this past month’s announcement of a three-year LPGA tournament, that will bring awareness to the need for women in tech industries, but the deeper mechanics of their initiative are what fascinates and excites me.

• A $290,000 grant from Guggenheim will kickstart a statewide robotics program. Modeled after Indy’s successful VEX Robotics championship, the new program will give 400 schools the tools needed to offer an educational foundation in robotics for about 40,000 students.
• So called STEM Days — a national initiative that encourages mentoring programs for students in science, technology, engineering and math fields — will expand to the University of Indianapolis next fall, and permit thousands of middle school students to spend time with professionals, particularly women, in those industries. Girls are more apt to adopt an “I can do this, too” attitude if they see real examples in front of them.
• The final measure, and the most lofty, would offer women looking to either reenter the workforce or transition into a tech career access to the appropriate tools in education, training, personal support services and mentorships that they would need to succeed.

“There were a lot of women who were pushed onto another path for one reason or another, and the girls who show some interest in those fields start to fall off around middle school,” Ballard said.

In the next 12 to 24 months, Towriss said he also hopes to have a scholarship funding model in place that can help those who, through this program, have been inspired. “If there’s interest and ability, it would be a shame if there wasn’t funding for them to be able to go to college and pursue the dream and passion that we’ve helped ignite,” he said.

These men, Ballard and Towriss, recognize there needs to be a collaborative approach between government, businesses and local schools to deliver the next generation of employees. They also recognize the importance of creating a city where people want to live and work.

“When I was growing up people moved to a job,” Ballard said. “Now people move to a city they want to live in. There’s a buzz about the city now; that wasn’t 10 years ago. Every decision I made in office was focused on building a city where people want to be.”

Added Towriss: “I had the choice to do this in many other cities, but it was very important for me to do this here.”

This is the kind of investment Indy needs.

Email IndyStar columnist Suzette Hackney at suzette.hackney@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @suzyscribe.