Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Yesterday the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced its plan to make its grandstands completely smoke-free starting this fall. We applaud IMS President Doug Boles and Hulman & Company President and CEO Mark D. Miles for their bold leadership when it comes to protecting the health of Hoosiers and IMS fans from across the globe. A study released by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation last September showed that Indiana’s tobacco epidemic – an often-overlooked issue – costs our state more than 12,000 lives and $6.8 billion annually. And a report we released earlier this month found that Hoosier smokers […]

Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Early childhood investments like state-funded Pre-K targeting low-income students have received a lot of attention in Indiana lately. At the same time, state and local leaders continue to grapple with how to improve test scores and graduation rates in K-12 schools. Some have questioned the benefits of investing in Pre-K. These people wonder: Won’t the impacts of early childhood investments be diminished if students enter a K-12 system that has problems, too? Aren’t we better off focusing state dollars on strengthening K-12 schools? Others have raised an alternate perspective: Won’t investments in K-12 have limited […]