Indiana 250: Katie Jenner

Katie Jenner leads the Indiana Department of Education and chairs the State Board of Education, overseeing a budget of more than $10 billion, more than 2,200 schools, 1.13 million students and 80,000-plus teachers and administrators. She has secured a $170 million investment in literacy, allowing the department to deploy solutions aimed at achieving Indiana’s goal of 95% of third-graders reading at grade level by 2027. Under her leadership, the state is rethinking high school, focusing on increasing flexibility in diploma requirements while maintaining rigor, increasing access to high-quality work-based learning, and increasing access to credentials of value before graduation.

First job

My work as a summer swim instructor was really my first “teaching” role, as I worked with all ages of kids to teach them to swim. Additionally, while being a lifeguard involved being around friends and getting a good suntan (which was very appealing as a teenager), it also involved cleaning all of the public bathrooms—the floors, the toilets, all of it. With every job, there is good that is seen by all, but there is also the roll-up-your-sleeves and cleaning-up-the-messes kind of work, too.

Favorite thing about being a leader

I love leaving things better than how I found them. I love the whole process of driving improved change, including determining the problem area, the causes and solutions, then bringing people together to try to get to the outcome we want. This includes persisting to overcome the tough times, and my competitive spirit definitely comes in when pushing towards an outcome.

Admires most

One of the people I admire, who is also a mentor, is Earl Goode. Most people know him for his career path as a very successful businessman, political adviser (chief of staff for two governors), and for his impact on Indiana. To me, he’s the person in the room providing some “calmness in the middle of a storm (tough moments).” I also admire that he doesn’t tell me what I want to hear … he tells me what I need to hear, and he doesn’t constrict or turn off with pushback; that’s actually when he turns on. He listens and focuses on how to solve the problem, not admiring the problem.

Walk-up song

“Thunder,” by Imagine Dragons

Advice for a young person

Be very mindful of who you surround yourself with. Protect yourself from those who tear you down. AND lean on those who help to lift you up, who push you to be the best version of you, and find more people like them.

Success is rarely a straight line. It has a lot of unexpected twists and turns. The key is to celebrate the good times and learn from the tough times. It is both the “ups” and the “downs” that make us who we are. In the good moments, be humble and be grateful, and then, in the tough moments (which are totally inevitable), never give up and always keep moving forward.

Worries about

I worry about the short time we have on this Earth to make a positive impact, and am I doing enough, fast enough? I worry about the urgency to make it better for people.

Pets

I have two rescue dogs, a Labrador named Nova and a beagle named Barney. Plus, we have seven chickens (started as my daughters’ “planned” 4H project and now pets.)•