(INDIANAPOLIS) — Learning by doing. Increasingly, employers are adopting that powerful strategy in the battle to secure, retain and develop talent. Work and Learn Indiana’s Work-Based Learning Conference on February 22 will spotlight that theme.

The event, hosted at the Embassy Suites in Noblesville, is a convening of best practices and sharing of ideas toward growth and partnership within workforce and education.

Among the highlights:

  • Keynote address by Project Lead The Way President and CEO Dr. David Dimmett that stresses the critical roles educators, business and industry partners play in delivering relevant, career-connect learning that keeps students engaged and readies them for the workforce of the future
  • 18th Annual Impact Awards Luncheon celebrating Hoosier work-based learners, employers, innovative programs, work-based learning supervisors and career development professionals
  • Work-based learning panel featuring the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s new president and CEO Vanessa Green Sinders, and representatives from Batesville High School and Victory College Prep
  • Moderated discussions with Impact Award winners

The Impact Awards honor excellence in 10 categories: Work-Based Learner of the Year (high school, college and adult learner); Career Development Professional of the Year (high school, college and adult learner); Work-Based Learning Supervisor of the Year; Outstanding Employer of the Year; Innovative Program of the Year; and David R. McKinnis Community Partner Award.

“It’s exciting to recognize individuals and employers that are shaping Indiana’s future workforce. Along with celebrating those innovators, we look forward each year to sharing best practices and exchanging ideas with collaborators in business, community, education and government to further enhance and reimagine the workforce,” remarks Todd Hurst, executive director at the Institute for Workforce Excellence, a subsidiary of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce that houses Work and Learn Indiana.

Nominations for the Impact Awards were submitted by the public, with winners chosen by a group of impartial judges.

The event’s title sponsor is Project Lead The Way, a national leader in STEM education and training that is a model for how applied learning can create a path to career success for students. Gerry Dick – president, Inside Indiana Business, a division of IBJ Media, and host of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick – will serve as the emcee.

Tickets for the full Work-Based Learning Conference are $350 (for-profit organizations) and $125 (nonprofit organizations). The cost to attend the Impact Awards Luncheon only is $100 (for-profit organizations), $75 (nonprofit organizations) and $30 (students/parents). All can be purchased at www.workandlearnindiana.com/impact-awards.

For more information about Work and Learn Indiana, visit www.workandlearnindiana.com or call (317) 264-6852.

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The Indiana Chamber partners with 25,000 members and investors – representing over four million Hoosiers – to achieve the mission of “cultivating a world-class environment which provides economic opportunity and prosperity.”