The Summit City brings newcomers to the city for a variety of different reasons. Employment, Education and a “Special Assignment.” Fort Wayne has a way of igniting the “special assignment” within you. Moreover, many have changed the trajectories of their lives and their families’ destiny has been impacted in the second largest city in Indiana.

Quila Pettus, First Lady of Greater Progressive Baptist Church, where her husband Anthony Pettus is the Senior Pastor had a vision that was birthed out of a traumatic experience. Her mother came to visit in October of 2020, and she fell sick with COVID-19. “I contracted COVID-19 in September of the same year.

In 2006, I came to the Summit City to take a job at what was then known as Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) in the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs.

“The people who touch the lives of our scholars and their families daily are the ones who make the biggest difference in each of their lives. Our people are what makes us effective,” said, Thomas Smith affectionately known as Mr. Smith #1 to the students and staff at Smith Academy for Excellence.

“We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends.” – Mary Mcleod Bethune

“Get in the picture!” This is the tagline of KAAN Designs (pronounced can). Ashley Green is inspired by her late mother Yulanda Tate who died suddenly on Mother’s Day in 2007. “I didn’t have any pictures of my mother and didn’t want to fall in the same trap," said Ashley Green.

Saturday, April 20, 2024, is a day that will go down in history in the Summit City. Fort Wayne elected Sharon Tucker as its first African American mayor and second female. Moreover, Tucker’s election also made Hoosier History with eight African American mayors currently serving across the state, four of which are women.

“I met Cicelle when she served as a Scholar Corps member for the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. I quickly recognized and appreciated the way Cicelle successfully balanced her work and family life. Cicelle was and still is organized, creative, quick to share new ideas, and eager to help students and families move toward their academic goals.

“Leadership is not a title; it’s a calling. But it is far from easy. You don’t lead people to do something as much as you motivate them to be someone—the best version of themselves.” according to a Psychology Today article “The Secrets of Effective Leadership Development. (Gotian, Ruth August 1, 2023).