Questa's Leadership Search Ends

Questa’s Leadership Search Ends

Elizabeth Bushnell announced as new Executive Director

Questa’s board of directors has announced Elizabeth (Liz) Bushnell as its new Executive Director. Liz will be responsible for Questa’s overall growth and strategic direction of the organization through continued strengthening of relationships within the 11 counties of Northeast Indiana.

The foundation’s search for a director began in November 2019, as Questa’s current executive director Marc Levy announced his retirement.

“We believe Liz will bring great leadership and experience through her knowledge of post-secondary education. She has the vision and passion to carry on the great work of the foundation. She comes highly recommended, and we are fortunate to have her be a part of Questa’s team.”

— Gary Adkins, Questa's Board Chair

Liz has spent the bulk of her career in higher education. At Manchester University since 2004, she has held varying roles including the Director of Career Services, Associate Dean for Planning & Assessment, and an Adjunct Instructor. In her most recent position as Assistant Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, Bushnell lead strategic planning, assessment, research, grants and accreditation activities for the University. As a resident of Northeast Indiana for over 15 years, Liz has had opportunities to contribute to community development through volunteering at organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters as a College Success Mentor, a member of several committees with the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and various leadership roles with Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana.

Her professional and volunteer experiences have displayed her passion for helping young people realize their potential.

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Political Science at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD, and her Master’s in Public Administration from Bowie State University, Liz moved on to Indiana State University to receive her PhD in Higher Education and Administration.

“Questa plays a pivotal role in talent development and retention in the region. I am very excited about the opportunity to join the Questa team and contribute to their important work helping students gain access to education, graduate with less debt, and meet regional talent needs as professionals in our community.”

— Elizabeth Bushnell, Questa's New Executive Director

Elizabeth will be joining the Questa Foundation team on April 6, 2020. As part of the transition plan, Marc Levy will be available in a support role until his retirement on June 30, 2020.

Questa Receives Another Year of Support from Legacy Funds

Questa is glad to announce the renewal of Legacy funds for $200,000 for one more year to continue serving Fort Wayne residents, help them receive or complete their education, graduate with less debt, and give back to the community through their talent. Questa will match this amount, totaling $400,000.

Since first receiving Legacy Funds in 2013, Questa has been able to serve over 140 Fort Wayne students with internship stipends and forgivable loans.  To date, twenty-four of those scholars have graduated from Questa’s program with 76% of them currently living and working in Allen County. These scholars are working at large and small companies such as Sweetwater Sound, Parkview Health, Fort Wayne Community Schools, Benchmark Human Services, the American Red Cross, the Allen County Library, Ivy Tech, and many others. They are managers, processing specialists, insurance agents, behavior technicians, auditors, and medical assistants to name a few.

“Many of Questa Scholars receiving Questa’s financial support are first generation students, individuals  who are the first in their family to go to college,” commented Marc Levy, executive director of Questa Education Foundation. “Our goal is to help scholars graduate with less debt, and not only find a livable wage job to improve their own lives but to improve the overall economy of the region.”

By investing in people and their education, their ability to find a job and make a living will increase taxpayer dollars, home ownership as well as incentivizing talent to stay and make positive changes in our region. With this support, the Questa will continue to grow and serve several hundred more individuals over the next several years.

Through donations and partnerships, the Questa Foundation can serve even more students in Allen County, but also in the surrounding counties in Northeast Indiana. Go to www.questafoundation.org to learn more about how you can invest in a student and help them receive an education. Your support is an essential part of growth and positive change in our region.

You can read the Journal Gazette article here:

https://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20191218/city-approves-2-for-legacy-funds

John Crawford Gives Boost to Questa

Crawford gives boost to Questa

To grant 2nd Legacy request

DAVE GONG | The Journal Gazette

A little more than a month after Fort Wayne's Legacy Joint Funding Committee denied a request from the Questa Education Foundation, the nonprofit will have another chance this month to secure some future funding. 

City Councilman John Crawford, R-at large, will introduce a bill next week seeking funding for the Questa Legacy Scholars program. Crawford, who will leave the council at the end of December, is a longtime supporter of Questa. In an interview Wednesday, Crawford said he's donated his City Council salary to Questa for 20 years – a total of about $400,000. 

The proposal will be discussed Dec. 17.

“I think it's something that's been really good for the community,” Crawford said. “If you look across the country, every city's destiny is controlled by educational attainment and building a workforce to attract the jobs of the future and that ties into getting more and more people college educated.”

Crawford said Questa's Legacy Scholars program does a good job of not only helping students earn a degree but keeping them in Allen County and northeast Indiana. The Legacy Scholars program, Crawford added, is especially beneficial for the Fort Wayne area.

For the past five years, the Legacy Scholars program was paid for out of the city's Legacy Fund, which is composed of money generated by the lease and sale of Fort Wayne's old power utility. If approved, Crawford's proposal would again use the Legacy Fund to pay for the program.

Not leaving Questa in a lurch for the next academic year is the main goal of Crawford's proposal. Although the Legacy Joint Funding Committee declined to vote on Questa's grant request, the city's rules regarding the Legacy Fund state that the mayor or any City Council member can circumvent the committee and introduce a funding proposal directly to City Council.

Crawford said he's flexible on the funding amount and the time period. It's possible, he said, that the council could agree to fund the program for another year to allow Mayor Tom Henry and the City Council that will be sworn in Jan. 1 to work together to find an alternative funding solution.

“I don't want to leave (Questa) with a gap. The Legacy Committee threw them a curve without even taking a vote,” Crawford said. 

According to the Questa website, the Legacy Scholars program was created “to promote education and employment opportunities for high school seniors and returning college students who are residents of Fort Wayne.” The program distributes $200,000 a year in forgivable student loans to area students. The Legacy Scholars program uses the same low-interest loans as the Questa Scholars and Contemporary Scholars program, the Questa website states. 

To be eligible, students must reside within the Fort Wayne city limits, must be working toward a certificate, associate or bachelor's degree and attend an Indiana not-for-profit college or university. Students must also plan on living in Allen County after college graduation and must plan to work in northeast Indiana. There are also requirements for grade-point average and SAT or ACT scores. 

If students who receive a loan from the Legacy Scholars program live and work in the Fort Wayne area for five years, Questa will forgive 50% of that debt, said Marc Levy, Questa's executive director. If students graduate from one of Questa's regional partner schools, that school will pay 25% of the students' loans.

“One of the most important assets we can invest in right now is people, because that helps them get livable wage jobs, but it also helps create the talent that employers need so that instead of competing for talent and taking talent from each other, the talent pool grows,” Levy said. “Sixty percent of the workforce has no post-secondary education. There is a lot of underdeveloped talent, as well as the kids coming out of high school.”

Money for Legacy Scholars is running out, Levy said, and it's unclear whether the program will have any money for the 2021 school year unless more funding is secured. Regardless, the Legacy Joint Funding Committee at its Nov. 14 meeting declined to recommend Legacy money to support the program for another four years. Questa's proposal failed after no committee member offered a motion to support it. 

Although several committee members expressed support for Questa's mission, they said if the city wants to continue its participation, it should find room in the annual budget rather than the Legacy Fund. A major reason offered was that Questa has a continual need for funding to support the Legacy Scholars program.

Levy said extending the city's participation would sustain the Legacy Scholars program long enough for loan repayments to begin. Those repayments, along with donor support, means the Legacy Scholars program can become self-sustaining, eliminating the need for large requests from the Legacy Fund. 

Crawford's proposal isn't the only Legacy Fund request planned for the Dec. 17 City Council agenda. A $500,000 grant for Science Central, which has been held up since April, is also expected to be discussed. The council is expected to vote Tuesday to remove the item from the table and place it on the agenda for the following week.

The grant to Science Central would fund a portion of a $2.4 million planetarium project at the Clinton Street facility. The exhibit will be used for educational programming to increase public engagement on space exploration. The request was held at the behest of City Councilman Paul Ensley, R-1st, amid concerns about the Electric Works project south of downtown Fort Wayne.

Article Link: https://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20191205/crawfordgives-boostto-questa

New Rules, Same Goal

An article was written and posted on Tuesday, November 26 in the Journal Gazette in response to media coverage on the Legacy Committee meeting and Questa’s proposal for continued funding.

New rules, same goal; Questa, city officials united on program's value

by Marc Levy, Executive Director of the Questa Education Foundation

Marc Levy is executive director of the Questa Education Foundation.

In a recent Fort Wayne Legacy Committee meeting, the Questa Foundation's request for continuation of funding was considered. Media coverage indicated a lack of support, but in fact the conversation was extremely positive about the Questa Scholar program and the outstanding results of the current Fort Wayne-Questa Legacy initiative. The request, however, was not voted on as no motion was put forward during the discussion.

The request did not get an endorsement because the verbal consensus was that the request was ineligible because the guidelines established by City Council placed a priority on capital projects, not ongoing program support. It is important to note that though the Legacy Fund is an important funding source targeted to serve more Fort Wayne residents, the Questa Education Foundation is not in jeopardy and continues to be financially stable, serving all northeast Indiana.

The financial support from the Legacy Fund began several years ago thanks to Mayor Tom Henry's effort in collaboration with Councilman John Crawford and others. The four-year, $200,000 per year resolution was unanimously endorsed by City Council and included the stipulation of ongoing funding unless the council acted to end funding. There was a clear understanding that investing in Fort Wayne residents for further education was essential to address “brain drain” and especially a growing talent gap.

Growing the talent pool was and is important for the city to have a thriving economy and provide support for overall quality of life.

This decision to provide Legacy funding for the Questa Scholars Program was decided prior to formation of the Legacy Committee and the current City Council guidelines for funding. That prior decision was both to fund the initiative and to endorse Questa Education goals: increased postsecondary training and education, completion with less debt and retention of talent.

In contrast, the concern of the Legacy Committee was in regard to its own guidelines. One could argue the guidelines provide priorities and guidance, rather than strict definitions on what can be funded. In the discussion, the Legacy Committee suggested the Questa Foundation request for extension of the funding could be acted upon by City Council if the council continued to support investing in people as an important asset.

Though this funding and city endorsement is important and has served an increased number of students now living and working in our community, I would like to reiterate that the Questa Foundation is not in jeopardy and continues to serve hundreds of individuals in northeast Indiana.

The foundation has served nearly 1,000 individuals since 2007 and supports scholars focused on receiving their industry certification, associate's or bachelor's degree. Of those scholars, two-thirds upon graduation are living and working in our community, giving back their talents to the northeast Indiana economy.

The initial reason for Legacy funding was to help go broader and deeper in support of city residents for their education. The ongoing results have been reported annually to City Council, demonstrating the positive impact accomplished. In December, the next annual report will be presented to City Council; our hope is that at that time a request for extension of funding will be followed by a vote to continue this vital program.

I would encourage everyone to go to our website, questafoundation.org, to learn more. If you agree with the importance of this initiative, then please let others know of your support.

After all, investing in people goes together with investing in buildings, riverfront development and other capital investments. Fort Wayne needs people to teach in our schools, carpenters, electricians, plumbers and welders to build those buildings; health care professionals to support the health care system; and more. We also need to help some of the 60% already in the workforce to get additional postsecondary education and become part of that talent filling the talent gap.

By investing in people, we will see ongoing growth in our local economy, including growing businesses and individuals with livable wages who can afford to buy homes, feed their families, pay taxes and have a good quality of life.

Article Link: https://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/columns/20191126/new-rules-same-goal

Questa Announces Retirement of Executive Director and Search for New Leadership

Marc Levy, Executive Director of the Questa Education Foundation

On behalf of the Questa Education Foundation Board of Directors, Chair Gary Adkins announced that Marc Levy after 8 years as the Executive Director will be retiring at the end of the fiscal year June 30.

Gary Adkins, Questa Board Chair, President of Parkview Noble Hospital

“We have been honored and grateful for the visionary leadership, talent and passion that Marc brought to the organization. His work with the staff and board has strengthened and grown the organization and moved it into the 21st century.  Questa is acknowledged for funding individuals desiring to pursue further education who have funding gaps. The growth and success of the organization is demonstrated each year by both the ongoing Questa Scholars funded and by the outstanding results achieved growing the talent in the region,” says Adkins.

The board has recently approved a succession plan to recruit and hire an individual who has the ability to take Questa forward serving our region and who can continue to strengthen the collaboration and partnerships across the area.  Optimally the individual selected to lead Questa into the future will be someone who has relevant work experience in higher education, economic development, or the nonprofit sector.  The successful candidate would also preferably have a passion for Northeast Indiana and a strong understanding of education and its ties to economic development in Northeast Indiana.  The job description and posting are being made available and a search committee has been formed to begin the task of finding the next leader for this important organization. The goal is to have an individual chosen by April so that a smooth transition can occur during the later stages of the fiscal year which ends in June of 2020. 

The Questa Foundation has three primary goals: Increasing access to all postsecondary education alternatives, completion with less debt and retention of talent in northeast Indiana.  Questa has served over 1,300 individuals since 2007 with forgivable loans, grants, scholarships and stipends.

“When I started,” Levy said, “the conversation was about the brain drain and as we progressed it became clear it was really about filling the talent gap in our communities. So, we carried the message across the area stressing the importance of investing in people as our most important regional asset.  Having a workforce prepared for the 21st Century economy is how we maintain and grow a thriving economy and without it we will find communities struggling to economically survive. The staff and board have been dedicated to the goals of the organization and willing to support expansion of our initiatives to address the rapidly changing economy and this challenging talent gap.”

Information regarding the Questa Education Foundation can be found out the website www.questafoundation.org.  A full job description is available and can be requested.  For those who are interested or know of an individual who might be interested please submit a letter of interest and your resume.

Application reviews will begin in December. A letter of intent and resume should be sent to:  Searchcommittee@Questafoundation.org