Inaugural 2024 Driving Change Award Winner Class II
“The Mitch Daniels Leadership Foundation Fellowship program provided me with the incredible opportunity to learn from and be inspired by trailblazers who deeply believe in our potential to make Indiana the best place to live and work,” said Stephanie Bothun, vice president and co-founder of Ascend Indiana. “These lessons, coupled with the feedback and friendship of talented leaders in my cohort, equipped and empowered me to lead a modern youth apprenticeship effort that currently opens doors to economic opportunity for hundreds of young people and aims to provide these opportunities for thousands of high school students in the coming years.”
Stephanie Bothun is the Vice President and Co-Founder of Ascend Indiana, a non-profit striving to make Indiana a place of economic opportunity for all by connecting talent to internships, modern youth apprenticeships and jobs, and by building talent pipelines between employers and educational institutions.
Previously, Bothun served as the Director of Education Initiatives for the City of Indianapolis leading forward early childhood, STEM, and workforce efforts. Prior to joining the Mayor’s office, Bothun served as a Human Capital Analyst with Deloitte Consulting LLP in Chicago and as a Teach for America Indianapolis charter corps member, where she was named Teach For America’s Indianapolis Teacher of the Year.
In 2019, Bothun was selected to participate in the Mitch Daniels Leadership Foundation Fellowship program. In 2020, Bothun was named to the Indianapolis Business Journal’s (IBJ) prestigious Forty Under 40 list. In 2023, Bothun was named one of 60 Presidential Leadership Scholars (PLS). PLS serves as a catalyst for a diverse network of leaders brought together to collaborate and create meaningful change in the United States and around the world as they learn about leadership through the lens of the presidential experiences of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson and their administrations.
Bothun received her Bachelor of Science in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a Master of Arts in Education from Marian University. Bothun lives in Indianapolis with her husband and twins, Caleb and Charlotte.