10 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2019 Emily Brooks Member Engagement Specialist Indiana Bankers Association ebrooks@indianabankers.org COVER STORY IBA Future Leadership Division Forging a path into the future The Future Leadership of the Indiana Bankers Association serves a clear mission: to connect banking professionals within IBA membership by providing education, networking and volunteer opportunities in order to develop and inspire leaders who will advocate for and sustain the future of Indiana’s banking industry. The FLD in its current state has only existed since the early part of the decade. Before then, its membership had fluctuated over the years and eventually dwindled to solely those on the FLD advisory board, and the group provided few official event offerings. With the banking industry’s emphasis on attracting and maintaining new talent, it was imperative that the FLD gain strong membership, leadership and structure, and a reforming of the group was necessary to ensure its future success. Predictably, the new group’s numbers started out small. It is estimated there were only about 20 FLD members at the beginning of this rejuvenation process. As a result of the efforts of the group and IBA staff, FLD numbers nearly quadrupled within only a few years. Official data shows the FLD had 78 members as of December 2014. FLD advisory board president Kirby Drey of Kentland Bank says that the FLD’s growth was possible “through the hard work of Chris Bennett, Dax Denton, Josh Myers and the FLD advisory board members over the years,” plus through the creation of a strategic plan that laid out specific goals for the FLD. “It was a strategic initiative to grow the member base from more than just an advisory board,” says FLD advisory board vice president Melodie Yarnell of Jackson County Bank, who will rise to the role of FLD president in 2020. “With that initiative, the advisory board and the IBA made it a priority to design a program for future leaders, no matter their age, that would focus on building relationships with their peers, enhance their knowledge of banking and leadership, and understand the importance of advocacy and the GR process,” she adds. “With continued development of the FLD offerings and promotion of its brand to all bankers, including executives, the FLD has been very successful in building its membership.” As of this writing, the FLD has 387 members, with a goal of reaching 400 members by the end of 2019. Over 50% of IBA member banks have FLD members, and of these participating banks, the FLD boasts an average of more than five members per bank.
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