MDLF Fellows Program Expectations Agreement
Congratulations! As an MDLF Fellow, you have been selected from an incredibly competitive group of leaders. We are very excited to have you in our program.
To ensure the success of our Fellows program, we want to set clear expectations and guidelines up front. In this document, we outline our schedule for the year, attendance and dress code requirements, expectations for preparation and participation, and our code of conduct. Please read through these items and confirm your agreement to participate by signing at the end.
Schedule
Fellows meetings will generally begin at 11:00 AM ET and end at 4:00 PM ET. Locations for meetings, dates, times, and agendas will be announced in advance of each event through an email and a calendar invite. If meetings will be held remotely (through Zoom, for example) the information to join will be shared in the invite.
Attendance and dress code
Fellows are expected to attend all MDLF events throughout the year. No more than (1) absence will be permitted per (6) month period. (Attendance policy excludes the Aim Higher evening events, or other optional events. Aim Higher events involve not just the Fellows, but the larger MDLF network - we will share more details about them as they are scheduled). Unless otherwise stated, dress code is business casual.
Preparation
Each month Fellows will be expected to arrive on time, stay for the entire time, and have read the provided prep materials. To be respectful of our speakers’ time and that of other Fellows, any late arrival (within reason) or partial-day participation will be considered absent for the entire event.
Be ready to learn, stretch your thinking, and engage in discussions. Significant time and effort has gone into creating the MDLF curriculum and we ask that you participate fully by being well prepared for each session.
Our Fellows class is composed of people with a wide variety of experiences, backgrounds, and opinions, and, as leaders, we have an obligation to discuss difficult or complex topics in a frank and respectful way. Be prepared to respectfully disagree with another Fellow at some point in the program, and express yourself in a thoughtful and considerate way. Discussions conducted in this way will help us understand our state, new ideas to make it better, and our own positions!
Pitch day event
The culmination of your first year will be MDLF’s pitch day. You’ll be asked to prepare an idea for a new initiative to pitch to the Board, based on what you’ve learned about Indiana over your first (12) months.
The end goal is to inspire an actionable, concrete idea for something that helps our state. This is an open-ended challenge and creativity and bold thinking are encouraged. More information will be provided during orientation and following events.
We will also make the previous class’s pitches available to you as references, and so you can draw on them for inspiration.
Conduct
MDLF is dedicated to enabling leaders and driving change in Indiana. To do this, we’ll all need to understand the standards for good behavior, so we can work together to make our state a better place to live and work.
As leaders and representatives of MDLF, we know we’ll be held to high standards by other members of our communities. This document shows how we can meet them.
These guidelines address both things we will do and the things we won’t do as members of MDLF. In creating this document, we looked at the conduct guidelines for many successful programs, and drew on our own experience. The following principles of our code are inspired by Techstar’s Code of Conduct:
We appreciate the contributions our speakers and board make to our organization. Like us, they are all busy improving Indiana through their day-to-day work. When they make time in their calendars to speak with us, they give up other important opportunities to interact with us and invest in our success. We demonstrate our appreciation by expressing thanks, taking our events seriously, and coming prepared.
We respect the time of other members of MDLF by showing up promptly to events. We dedicate time on our calendar for the entire event and do not create disruptions by leaving early or arriving late.
We respect the opinions of others, even when we disagree with them. When we discuss differences, we focus on the facts, and converse with an eye towards finding a good solution to a problem our state is facing. We recognize that others may teach us things we didn’t know when we engage in discussion with a positive mindset.
We participate in both offline and online forums with respect. We participate in respectful discourse in all forums.
We respect requests for privacy and confidentiality.
We keep our commitments. If we say we’ll do something, we do our absolute best to do it. If a situation arises that changes our ability to deliver, we communicate the change and do our best to make good on our promise.
We avoid gossip. We don’t share disparaging comments and rumors about others. We are constructive in our feedback and always provide it directly to the individual to which it pertains.
We understand all our discussions are “off the record.” We do not record or publicly share quotes or content discussed at events unless we have explicit approval from MDLF. We observe this rule to enable people to speak frankly about difficult subjects without worrying about the as-yet-unpolished nature of their new ideas, and because as leaders we may be presented with information that is not yet ready to be made public without a period of further reflection.
We communicate with integrity. If we say something then we believe that it is true. We do not intentionally omit important and relevant factual information in an effort to deceive others, but instead aim to be clear and transparent in our communications.
We always work for the benefit of Indiana, not for our own personal benefit.
We disclose known conflicts of interest early. We err on the side of too much disclosure.
We encourage and respect independent, innovating thinking. We understand that all progress depends on change, and re-evaluating core assumptions.
We abide by all local and federal laws.
We are responsible with controlled substances. If consuming alcohol, we do so responsibly and in moderation. Alcohol is never provided to minors. We do not drive under the influence of any legal or illegal drug. We do not distribute, use, or operate under the influence of illegal drugs (defined by local or federal law) while participating or engaging in any MDLF program or event.
Political Activity
The Mitch Daniels Leadership Foundation is a 501(c)(3) and does NOT engage in politicking or political campaign activities. We expect our Fellows to discuss issues with civility, compassion, professionalism, and knowledge. We ask that all Fellows show respect towards participants, mentors and speakers.
As a Fellow, you are an extension of MDLF. We ask that you are cognizant of our namesake and our organization when you speak in public and on social media platforms. While you may engage in political activities in your personal capacity, you may not endorse or oppose candidates for public office in any manner that expressly or impliedly indicates that such endorsement or opposition is being done on MDLF's behalf (including, but not limited to, in situations in which you have been asked to represent MDLF). If a Fellow violates the foregoing prohibition or otherwise misrepresents MDLF or its mission, MDLF may take protective measures.
Lastly, MDLF reserves the right to suspend or terminate a Fellow's participation in the program at its sole discretion.
In exchange for my participation in the Fellows program, I agree to and accept the foregoing program expectations and look forward to participating in the program.