Innovate Southwest Indiana - Evansville
Speaker
Keynote Speaker
Katie Jenner
Bio
As Indiana’s first Secretary of Education and the state’s top education official, Dr. Katie Jenner
is responsible for establishing a unified, student-centered vision across the full spectrum of
education, from Pre-K and K-12 to college.
As one of eight secretaries in Governor Mike Braun’s cabinet, Dr. Jenner oversees eight state
agencies and boards which comprise approximately 60% of the state budget, or approximately
$26 billion over the biennium. This includes leading the Indiana Department of Education
(IDOE), chairing the State Board of Education (SBOE), and overseeing Commission for Higher
Education, Charter School Board, Education Employee Relations Board, Indiana School for the
Deaf, Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and Indiana State Library.
Under Secretary Jenner’s leadership, the state of Indiana and local schools have celebrated a
number of successes in K-12 education, including:
• Literacy rates increasing for three consecutive years, including the largest-ever single-
year increase in 2024;
• Chronic absenteeism rates improving for two consecutive years;
• The unanimous adoption of new high school diploma requirements that allow increased
flexibility for students to personalize their journey;
• The highest Indiana high school graduation rate on record;
• Creating a comprehensive teacher supply and demand marketplace, matching
educators with open positions and recruiting new teachers to the profession; and
• Transparently measuring school and student outcomes that matter most for parents,
families, and educators with the Indiana GPS Dashboard.
Dr. Jenner previously served as a high school teacher, preschool-12 district leader, and as vice
president of a statewide higher education institution. She is also a wife and mother to twin
daughters. She lives in Madison, Indiana.
Panelists
Panelist
Jim Ryan
Bio
James “Jim” C. Ryan, III serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Old National Bancorp, a role he assumed in 2019. Since joining Old National in 2005, Mr. Ryan has held several executive leadership positions, including Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2016 to 2019. His previous roles at the company also include Director of Corporate Development and Mortgage Banking, Integration Executive, and Treasurer.
Before joining Old National, Mr. Ryan held senior finance positions at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and Old Kent Financial Corp.
Mr. Ryan is actively engaged in industry and community leadership. He serves on the board of directors for the American Bankers Association (ABA) and is chair of the ABA’s American Bankers Council. He also serves on the board of directors of the Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America. Locally, he is the Vice Chair of Deaconess Health Systems, Vice Chair of the Evansville Regional Business Committee, and a Southwest Indiana Regional Development Authority member. Additionally, his board memberships extend to the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, Inc., the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership, the Orr Fellowship, and Golf Gives Back.
Mr. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Grand Valley State University, earned in 1994.
Panelist
Andy Perry
Panelist
Sara Worstell
Panelist
Ivan Ball
Bio
Ivan Ball is the co-founder and CTO of anu, where he leads a team on a mission to revolutionize food production by empowering anyone to grow fresh produce with their rotary aeroponic technology. Raised around farming in Southern Indiana, Ivan developed an early passion for agriculture and nutrition, starting with hands-on work picking melons and detasseling corn. His curiosity for energy, physics, and emerging technologies led him to study electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University.
At Purdue, Ivan worked on a NASA-funded project to optimize resource efficiency for growing produce on the International Space Station—a pivotal experience that inspired the vision behind anu. With a background in food processing automation and a deep commitment to sustainable innovation, Ivan now combines disciplines like hydroponics, data science, ecommerce, AI, and engineering to enable anyone, anywhere, to become a farmer. His work supports a future of decentralized, pesticide-free food production that enhances food sovereignty, reduces waste, and dramatically cuts water use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Panelist
Lloyd Winnecke
Panelist
Daniela Vidal
Bio
Daniela Vidal began her tenure as Chancellor of the Ivy Tech Community College Evansville Campus on March 16, 2020. She came to Ivy Tech from the position of vice president of operations at Vidal Plastics.
The Evansville Campus serves a 10-county region with additional site located in Tell City.
Prior to her work at Vidal Plastics, Daniela served for more than 10 years in a variety of roles at the University of Southern Indiana. Her last role was as director of Opportunity Development, which housed the Center for Applied Research, Eagle Innovations Accelerator and Tech Commercialization, Resource Development, USI @ Innovation Pointe and the I-69 Innovation Corridor initiative.
Previously, she was coordinator of the Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Supervision degree programs and Engineering instructor, at USI. Vidal has also served as a consultant and trainer in the fields of operational excellence, new product introduction and leadership.
She has also served in a variety of roles at Procter & Gamble Latin America, Mead Johnson, GE Plastics and Berry Plastics. She holds a chemical engineering degree from Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, Venezuela, and a Master of Business Administration from USI.
Vidal is active in the community serving on several boards including the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership Executive Committee, Deaconess Hospital, YMCA of Southwest Indiana, Reitz Memorial High School’s President’s Council, The International Center, WNIN, Talent Evv Education Advisory Board. Most notably, she is a founding member and past president of HOLA. She has been involved in advocacy for the Latino community since 2001 and has taken that passion to both the local and state level.
She has been recognized for her leadership and community involvement through such honors as being named an JLA’s Top 20 Women in Business, Athena Award finalist, Leadership Evansville award, Top Five Most Influential Women in Evansville, Sydney Berger Community Award, and YWCA 100 Years 100 Women.
In addition to cultural awareness and advancing the Latino community, Vidal is also very passionate about economic and workforce development in our region. A few of the projects Vidal has been involved in include:
• Growth Alliance Innovation & Entrepreneurship Committee Chair
• Rural Indiana Technology Commercialization Initiative (RITCI)
• Led region in application for Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership initiative
• I-69 Innovation Corridor leadership team and steering committee; this included the Brainpower and Innovation & Entrepreneurship task forces.
“I am committed to fully leveraging my experience, cultural background
and passion to make Ivy Tech a beacon of hope for our community.”- Daniela Vidal