Meet the finalists: 2022 ELEVATE Community Ambassador Award, presented by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
The Community Ambassador Award will go to a young professional with a passion for Central Indiana who is committed to raising awareness of local issues and opportunities that help their peers become more connected to our community and invested in its growth.
All three of this year’s nominees bring something special to Indy, and we’re excited for you to meet them at ELEVATE later this month.
Want to shower them in beads and love before the big event? Remember to cast your vote for People’s Choice by going here.
Jennifer Borchelt, benefits manager at Barnes & Thornburg
As the benefits manager at Barnes & Thornburg, Borchelt is part of the Human Resources department.
She’s been there for 12 years, and her current role working with the talent resource groups happened organically.
“I’ve always naturally been one of those people who raises their hand to help,” said Borchelt.
In this role, she manages leave of absence requests for the organization. And part of that means she has lots of conversations with parents — new parents, soon to be parents, aging parents and more.
COVID-19 brought the need for a talent resource group for working parents to the forefront. This is where the idea of BT Parents, an internal group for parents, came from. Borchelt helped found this group during the pandemic, with the official kick-off in August 2020.
“I knew I was struggling. … I knew I needed something to connect me to colleagues and reach out because that is very isolating,” said Borchelt.
What does being a community ambassador mean to Borchelt?
“To me, it means being a great listener and providing that safe space or community for our employees, our BT parent members, to really have that judgment free zone,” she said. “So much of our lives are judged at work, at home — and social media does not help — and I can say that having a judgment free zone is important to me.”
If you want to learn more about her or connect on LinkedIn, click here.
Vote for Borchelt for People’s Choice.
Luisa Macer, community outreach and fan engagement manager at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Macer’s role at the Racing Capital of the World revolves around engaging our community and exciting fans about what the month of May has to offer, all the way to Brickyard weekend. It’s about bringing drivers to the community, bringing out the sport to their community, and really engaging with fans from around the world.
Working directly with the community is what drew her to this role: “It’s the fact that I get to spearhead a lot of the community efforts and really engage with fans from around the world. And the fact that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an icon — not only to our city but worldwide.”
Macer loves that she is “just a small piece” of the celebrations in May.
What is her hope for the Central Indiana community?
“... To create a more welcoming space. It is to welcome our refugees, our immigrants and everyone in between,” she said. “It is about creating communities that are collaborative, that welcome others and are really able to uplift others.
“I know my community has given me a lot of opportunities to get to where I am today, and so I hope that I am able to help foster the next set of leaders who will be doing the same for future up-and-coming leaders.”
To learn more about Macer or connect on LinkedIn, click here.
Vote for Macer for People’s Choice.
Anthony Murdock II, founder of Murdock, Inc.
Murdock is a purpose-driven, action-oriented leader and proud product of Indianapolis.
He keeps busy in his last year of law school at the IU McKinney School of Law and is a small business owner of Murdock, Inc.
In 2019, he founded Murdock LLC, which empowers communities to leverage their influence and fuel efforts for Black liberation through people-centric partnerships and community-driven collaborations. In short, he is empowering a generation to "talk that talk" and tell their story.
As part of Murdock LLC, he also started Circle City Storytellers. It’s a hub for sharing and uplifting stories of Black and Brown people in our community, and he also leads training sessions on how people can tell their stories.
“What makes me so passionate is my life, my experience, but also the experience of my peers and my community — my role models. The people that better helped me understand what it means to be me exactly where I am at this moment in time,” Murdock said.
“I understand I’m not the first, but I’m also not the last. I understand that I don’t have a responsibility to educate, but I do have the responsibility to be an example to those that want to follow in my footsteps.”
What is his vision for Central Indiana?
“My vision is that we’re the storytelling capital of the world. I believe that the best stories were birthed here. … The problem is that so many stories are started, built and grown here, but they leave. And they are oftentimes not tied back to Central Indiana. So my passion for storytelling is rooted in understanding the power of storyship,” he said. “I believe I am a steward over my story. So part of what I’m looking to do in moments like this, and across my work, is to be an unapologetic ambassador for what I believe is the best vision for Central Indiana — and it’s being a global hub for storytelling.”
Learn more and connect with Murdock on LinkedIn by clicking here.