The project is an activity of Indiana’s Bicentennial Commission, co-chaired by former Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and former Congressman Lee Hamilton. Its goal is to produce a number of “big ideas” for Indiana’s future that might drive positive change in Indiana’s third century.
Pratt, a board-certified behavior analyst and immediate past chair of the National Autism Society, and others representing various subject areas from across Indiana will come together in a series of working sessions put on by Ellspermann, according to the release.
Other areas of focus include historical celebration, nature conservation and community involvement.
“I look forward to facilitating these visioning sessions where our experts will share and discuss their ideas and then identify the most promising ideas to put forward in the report,” Ellspermann said in the release. “This report is not intended to be a political manifesto with specific policy recommendations. Rather, we see it as a resource document with a collection of big ideas and broad goals for Indiana’s future.”
The Indiana Institute on Disability and Community is a research center on the Bloomington campus. It is overseen and supported in part by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.
Hamilton explained how he developed the idea by seeing the Indiana Bicentennial as a time to celebrate Indiana history and all of the past contributions that have made the state and its people what they are today.
“However, I believe that we miss an opportunity as we focus on our state if we do not also look ahead to our future,” Hamilton said in the release. “A study of our past is most fully meaningful if we use those history lessons as a foundation for our future. I see this visioning project as a way to capture the best ideas for Indiana’s future from today’s big thinkers across a wide range of economic, social and cultural issues.”
The Indiana Resource Center for Autism is one of seven centers at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, Indiana’s University Center for Excellence in Disabilities. The Indiana Institute is a leader in the transfer of research and new knowledge of disability from the University setting to communities in Indiana and nationally, according to the release.
Alyson Malinger
