“I would like my impact in the community to be positively impacting the educational system, and more personally working with students who need help figuring out where they want to go in life, introducing them to career options in health care.”

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Age: 33

Vice President of Patient Support Services, Indiana University Health

Sherron Rogers is up at 3 a.m. to hit the gym.

“It works well for me,” laughs Rogers, a self-described high-energy person who was recently promoted to vice president of patient support services at Indiana University Health. “I try to exercise a bit, and get my day started with work.”

Responsible for environmental services, patient transportation, food and nutrition, and safety and security for IU Medical Center, Methodist and Riley Hospital for Children, she may be at any or all of those hospitals any given day.

She came to IU Health about seven years ago as a project manager. Prior to that, she worked for Cummins Inc.

“I feel like I’m back home again in health care,” said Rogers, who once thought she’d work directly with patients as an occupational therapist but now oversees 900 employees.

She graduated from Pike High School and headed to IU, where she earned a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in information science. She feels strongly that her liberal arts studies benefits her work today.

“I learned about leadership in college, large-systems thinking, how to take a vision and execute it into a plan,” said Rogers, noting that her work now is about leading more than the IT work she did earlier.

“I was raised in a very caring household but with high expectations,” she said. “Excellence was the expectation for everything. I was taught from a very early age that doing something half way or partially was not acceptable.”

She has also benefited from strong mentors who have supported her and provided opportunities. She, in turn, shares her experiences with students through the Center for Leadership Development, an organization that she benefited from in high school.

She and her husband, Tyrone Rogers, have two children, ages 3 and 6. In addition to volunteering at their school, the International School of Indiana, she serves on the boards of the Near North Development Corp. and Starfish Initiative.•