INDIANAPOLIS ELEARNING FUND
Organization name: Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee
Program Type
Academic programs
Ages Served:
5-11 Years
12-18 Years
19-25 Years
Overview
Brief Program Summary: A collaborative of local stakeholders has established the Indianapolis
eLearning Fund with an initial investment of more than $2.6 million to support Indianapolis
educators, students, and families during the transition to eLearning in response to the recent
COVID-19 public health emergency. Mayor Joe Hogsett’s Office of Education Innovation
administers the Fund, and the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee serves as the fiscal
agent.
The Indianapolis eLearning Fund will address four focus areas to help ensure schools and districts
implement effective solutions to this challenge:
• Technology access: Support for Marion County traditional public, public charter, and
innovation network schools to address short-term needs for accessing devices and internet
connectivity for students from low-income families and for students who live in communities with
unreliable access to the internet and/or limited broadband capacity.
• County-wide e-learning strategy: Support for the development of a county-wide strategy
for eLearning that will identify supports needed and address both immediate and long-term needs.
• County-wide social-emotional learning strategy: Support for the development of a county-
wide strategy for social-emotional learning needs for students, both while at home and upon their
transition back to the school building.
• Statewide eLearning lab: Support for the launch of an eLearning lab for all schools in the
state, including traditional public, public charter, and private schools. The lab will provide early e-
learning adopters a platform for sharing best practices with all schools, as well as professional
development opportunities to support teachers and administrators. The lab will also equip
students and families with the necessary tools for the successful implementation of remote
learning.
Success Metrics: • The Indianapolis eLearning Fund established a short-term internet access
solution for the 36,000 Indianapolis public school students who needed it by obtaining internet
hotspots at a low-cost solution.
• To meet a longer term need, the Indianapolis eLearning Fund convened Indianapolis’
eleven school districts, 49 charter schools and 32 non-public schools to submit a joint application
to the State of Indiana’s Governor’s Emergency Education Relief fund, and received $11.5 million
to help Marion County schools purchase 20,000 hotspots and 33,000 laptops and tablets that
were needed to support student internet access for the next few years.
• The eLearning Fund facilitated a survey of 580 teachers across Indiana to identify
educators’ needs to support eLearning. Using this information, the eLearning Fund issued an
RFP to identify a vendor to create the Indiana eLearning Lab, which includes curated content by
eLearning experts for teachers and parents. As of May 2021, the eLearning Lab had served more
than 5,200 unique users.
Demographics
Number Served & Racial Distribution:
Total Number of Individuals Annually Served
38,000
Black or African Americans Annually Served
N/A
Hispanic or Latinos Annually Served
N/A
Geographic Scope:
− Central Indiana Counties: Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion,
Morgan, Putnam, Shelby
− Additional/Other Areas of Focus: Emphasis on Marion County
Resources
Annual Operating Cost: N/A
Initial Start-Up Cost: $3.2 million
Contact Information
Organization Name: Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee
Website: https://indygipc.org/
Respondents Name: Patrick McAlister
Email: Patrick.McAlister@Indy.Gov