Heidi Fowler
Board Member SpotlightHeidi Fowler is the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Ivy Tech Community College. She has been at Ivy Tech for 8 years, starting out as the Program Chair of Legal Studies and then became Dean in 2017. She enjoys working at Ivy Tech and having the opportunity to work with students. She is married and has one adult daughter. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors in activities such as hiking, biking, canoeing, golfing, and scuba diving.
Heidi likes to dedicate time to volunteering in her community as well. She is specifically interested in helping the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) population, one population that we are particularly invested here at United Way. The ALICE population is just as the acronym suggests, they are the working-class population that is often one paycheck away from losing it all. Heidi explains, “I have a heart for the ALICE population. I believe that United Way can directly impact that population by providing them tools for upward economic mobility.”
At United Way of Allen County, Heidi has held a variety of distinct roles, her newest of which is becoming one of our board members. She started volunteering with us a few years ago by reviewing grant applications. She was then made the chair of the now defunct Safety Net Investment Team. As the chair of that subcommittee, she was asked to serve on the Community Impact Committee. She was also part of our strategic planning process in 2021 and she has also been invited to participate in small groups around our strategic pillar of education. Heidi is passionate about the work that United Way does and says, “United Way is not the county piggy bank. They are working to bring non-profits together and advance big initiatives that no one organization could do alone.”
Heidi has much hope for the future of Allen County and the change that United Way can make in our community. One of her hopes is for a nonprofit summit to be convened, where all the nonprofits in our county are brought together to collaborate. Most of all, she hopes to see individual citizens committed to serving their own community more. “Serve,” Heidi says. “Find something you love to do and do it for others.”
We thank Heidi Fowler for her service to United Way of Allen County and the citizens that live in our community.