Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. A well-educated population is critical to the vitality of Indianapolis and the continuing global competitiveness of the city and our state. Unfortunately, too many K-12 students in Indianapolis do not demonstrate proficiency in core academic subjects such as math, science and reading. In 2019, for example, only 28 percent of Marion County 3rd through 8th graders earned a passing score on both the math and English language arts sections of the statewide assessment, ILEARN. In addition, employers report that they continue to struggle to identify a sufficient supply of skilled talent to fill available job openings. In […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. In 2014, more than 1,100 Hoosiers died as a result of drug poisoning – greater than the number of fatalities from car accidents – with prescription opioid misuse and heroin use responsible for a majority of these deaths. In response to the growing crisis, in 2015 the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation established a goal of reducing opioid use disorder, including prescription drug misuse and heroin use. The number of opioid-related overdose deaths continued to climb nationwide in the following years, reaching upwards of 2,400 deaths in Indiana alone. In 2017, the opioid crisis was formally declared a […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The life sciences sector is a major driver of Central Indiana’s economy and a key contributing factor to the vitality of Indianapolis. While Indiana’s life sciences sector is robust – wages for the sector have grown to $5.8 billion in 2018, and venture capital investments over the last four years totaled $360 million – competition is intensifying as other markets also compete to attract the investments, companies and talent required for continued growth. Cross-sector collaboration, coordination and alignment are key to ongoing economic prosperity in Indianapolis and elsewhere around the state. To ensure the continued strength of the […]