Leaders of the Future
Do you know a woman (maybe yourself!) who should be one of our Leaders of the Future?
Please encourage her to apply to Impact 100’s Leaders of the Future Program. This program covers the cost of membership for women working in public service (not-for-profit or government fields) or attending college or graduate school. LOF recipients are encouraged to participate in all aspects of the Impact 100 process, including serving on a Focus Area Committee and voting at our Annual Dinner.
Applications for the Leaders of the Future Program are accepted during the last quarter of each year for a membership the following year. Recipients must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Live in Marion County or one of its donut counties (Hamilton, Hancock, Shelby, Johnson, Morgan, Hendricks, or Boone).
- Work or volunteer in public service (not-for-profit or government fields) or be currently attending college or graduate school.
- Pledge to do ALL of the following:
- Serve on a Focus Area Committee, abiding by the organization’s grant-making procedures and conflict of interest policy.
- Attend and volunteer at the Annual Dinner in June.
- Attend and volunteer for one or more Impact 100 events during the calendar year.
- Participate on one Impact 100 Board Committee (Membership, Marketing & Communications, Annual Celebration, or Fundraising).
- Make two social media posts about the experience of being an Impact 100 Leaders of the Future member.
- Have not received an Impact 100 Leaders of the Future Membership previously.
It is recommended that interested candidates review our website to learn more about us our processes before filling out the Leaders of the Future Application Form. Each year’s applications are available on our home page as soon as they are released each fall until the application period ends. Because receiving this membership requires a time commitment from the recipient, it is necessary for the applicant to complete and send in the form herself.
Click here to download a copy of the 2025 Leaders of the Future Application.
How to submit a LOF Application
Applications are due on Friday, December 6, 2025.
- Download the form by clicking the link.
- Complete the form, answering each question completely. Because it is downloaded to your system, you can save and restart as much as needed.
- Once the form is ready for submission, add a copy of your resume to the end of the form, and save the form with the resume as a single PDF.
- Name the file using the following naming convention: “Last name_First name_2025 Scholarship Application.” Example file name: Smith_Jane_2025 Scholarship Application
- Send the PDF as an attachment to an email to impact100indy@gmail.com, using the name of the attache PDF as the subject of the email. Example email subject: Smith_Jane_2025 Scholarship Application
Send any questions of concerns regarding your application to impact100indy@gmail.com. The subject of this email must include the word Scholarship to ensure it is forwarded to the Leaders of the Future Scholarship Committee.
Important LOF Dates for 2025
- January: Recipients announced
- October 14: Application Form is available
- December 6: Applications are due
- Late December: Recipients notified
Are you interested in helping select the 2025 Leaders of the Future Recipients?
Join the Leaders of the Future Committee Today!
The Leaders of the Future Committee is starting to finalize the applications for the 2025 Impact 100 Leaders of the Future! This is a great opportunity to meet other women of Impact 100 and participate in the scholarship process. If you would like to help with selecting the scholarship recipients, please contact us at impact100indy@gmail.com, and please include “Leaders of the Future” or “LOF” in the subject.
Would you like to help us provide Leaders of the Future Memberships to budding philanthropists?
Donations to the Leaders of the Future Program are accepted year-round. If you would like to make a donation of any size help these women participate in our programs, please click here.
History of the Leaders of the Future Program
Impact 100 has always been about making a difference – both for the nonprofits to whom we offer grants, and among the Indianapolis community at large. Since 2013 Impact 100 has been making a difference in shaping the philanthropic perspectives of women early in their public service career through our Leaders of the Future Program, which covers the cost of membership for promising philanthropists early in their career.
The program started with an invitation to one student from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy to participate in the Impact 100 granting process, with her membership paid by a generous Impact 100 member. It was immediately apparent that this member was a benefit to the Focus Area Committee (FACs) she joined.
In 2015 the Impact 100 Board decided to expand the program to ten recipients as a way to celebrate our tenth anniversary, and generous donors stepped up to donate the additional $10,000 needed to pay for their membership. The program was so successful the Board decided to make it an annual endeavor with the number of women receiving a free membership determined by the amount of donations into a special Scholarship Fund created for that purpose, one scholarship for each $1250 in the fund on December 31 each year ($1000 for a Full Membership and $250 to cover the Operational costs of overseeing the Scholarship).
In 2022, the Impact 100 Board decided that the program had become such an important pipeline for developing new members and future leaders for Impact 100, they voted to change the name to the Leaders of the Future Program.
It is important to note that previous recipients of these special memberships have continued their impact on our organization by continuing their membership and serving as board members, as well as providing their leadership in important positions on our Focus Area Committees, Marketing, Membership, and other Board committees.
Says Impact 100 co-founder Donna Oklak, “One woman a year in the program was good, but ten plus women allows our organization and members to really feel the presence of these budding philanthropists as full participants in our committee work.