Center for Leadership Development's Role Model/Advisor Experience Connects Students with Indianapolis Leaders

On Saturday morning, classrooms at the Center for Leadership Development (CLD) transformed into spaces where experience met ambition. Instead of traditional lectures, students sat across from business owners, engineers, healthcare professionals, educators, artists, judges, entrepreneurs, marketers, and community leaders during CLD's annual Role Model/Advisor Experience—an event designed to give young people direct access to professionals who have already walked the path they hope to follow.

More than just a career day, the experience is one of CLD's signature opportunities to connect students with mentors who represent excellence across nearly every industry imaginable.

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More Than Four Decades of Building Leaders

Founded in 1977, the Center for Leadership Development has become one of Indianapolis' most respected youth development organizations. Its mission has remained consistent for nearly 50 years: cultivating character, empowering youth, and enriching the community.

Through leadership development, college preparation, mentoring, career exploration, scholarship opportunities, and family engagement, CLD has helped prepare thousands of young people for college, careers, and leadership positions throughout Indiana and beyond.

Many CLD alumni have gone on to become physicians, attorneys, educators, engineers, business executives, entrepreneurs, elected officials, and nonprofit leaders. A common theme among many graduates is that someone invested their time, challenged them to grow, and showed them what success looked like before they ever entered the workforce.

The Role Model/Advisor Experience continues that tradition.

Learning Directly From Professionals

The morning began with welcoming remarks from Reginald Porter Jr., CPI Director, followed by an overview of the day's objectives presented by Arianna Woods, Program Coordinator for Enriching Experiences.

After introductions and program logistics, students were divided into breakout sessions where they spent nearly two hours engaging directly with professionals working in fields they aspire to enter.

Rather than simply listening to presentations, students were encouraged to ask thoughtful questions about education, career paths, salaries, work-life balance, overcoming obstacles, networking, leadership, and what it truly takes to succeed.

Suggested discussion topics included:

• What inspired professionals to choose their careers.

• College and educational pathways.

• Daily responsibilities on the job.

• Biggest challenges they've overcome.

• Skills employers value most.

• Career outlook and opportunities.

• Advice they would give their younger selves.

• What success really looks like beyond the paycheck.

These conversations often become the moments students remember most because they're hearing authentic stories—not textbook answers.

Representation Matters

One of the strongest aspects of CLD's Role Model/Advisor Experience is the diversity of industries represented.

Students had the opportunity to meet professionals from areas including:

• Engineering & Information Technology

• Healthcare & Medical Science

• Accounting, Finance & Business

• Entrepreneurship

• Marketing & Communications

• Law & Civic Engagement

• Social Services

• Education

• Creative Arts

• Photography

• Media

• Performing Arts

Representatives came from organizations including Eli Lilly and Company, Charles Schwab, State of Indiana, University of Indianapolis, Marion County courts, Notre Dame, Cathedral High School, MSD Pike Township, The Performing Arts Conservatory, Recovery Centers of America, and many other respected organizations throughout Indianapolis.

Several entrepreneurs also shared their journeys of building businesses from the ground up, showing students that success can come through multiple pathways—not just traditional careers.

Preparing Students Before Graduation

One of CLD's greatest strengths is that career conversations don't begin after high school—they begin while students are still discovering who they are.

Throughout the event, students were encouraged to think beyond simply choosing a job.

Instead, they discussed:

• Building professional networks.

• Developing leadership skills.

• Making informed educational decisions.

• Understanding workplace expectations.

• Creating long-term career goals.

• Finding mentors who continue investing in them.

Parents attending the event also received discussion guides focused on supporting students through career exploration, college decisions, internships, and workforce readiness.

The experience reinforces that preparing for adulthood is a team effort involving students, families, schools, mentors, and the community.

Year-Round Opportunities

The Role Model/Advisor Experience also highlighted the many programs available through CLD throughout the year.

Upcoming opportunities include:

• Career Pathway Day

• Self-Discovery/Career Exploration Project

• College Prep

• Success Prep

• Project MR (Male Responsibility)

• Precious Miss

• College Prep Conference & College Fair

• Tutoring and Counseling Services

• Career workshops focused on academic excellence, college readiness, resumes, essays, and scholarship preparation.

Together, these programs provide students with consistent support from middle school through high school graduation.

Investing in the Next Generation

Every volunteer participating in today's experience donated something that cannot be measured in dollars—time.

The stories shared inside these classrooms may influence a student's college major, inspire someone to pursue entrepreneurship, encourage another to apply for an internship, or simply reassure a young person that success is possible regardless of where they started.

Mentorship creates possibility. Representation builds confidence. Exposure expands vision.

That is exactly what CLD has been doing for generations.

Looking Ahead

As Indianapolis continues to grow, programs like the Center for Leadership Development's Role Model/Advisor Experience remain essential to developing the city's future workforce and community leaders.

Today's students are tomorrow's engineers, teachers, healthcare providers, business owners, artists, nonprofit executives, elected officials, and innovators. By connecting them with accomplished professionals today, CLD is helping ensure they enter adulthood with knowledge, confidence, and a network of people willing to help them succeed.

For nearly five decades, the Center for Leadership Development has demonstrated that leadership isn't something people are born with—it's something that can be developed through opportunity, preparation, mentorship, and community.

Learn more about the Center for Leadership Development and its youth programs at: www.cldinc.org

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