Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana

As a young professional, it's time to start thinking about volunteering outside your profession, including joining a nonprofit board! 

Join the Paul Clarke Nonprofit Resource Center for "Get Connected: Nonprofit Speed Dating" on December 3. Spend an evening meeting current nonprofit board members to learn more about getting more involved with a nonprofit organization and in the community. 

Please join YLNI at the November Hot Spot hosted by Champions downtown.  We encourage you to bring a friend and spread the word.  Hot Spots are a great way to get to know new people, network, and learn more about YLNI.  We will see you there! 

Did you attend the 2015 YLNI My City Summit? We would love to hear your feedback! Please take a few minutes to complete a survey that will provide valuable insight to YLNI on how we can best continue to serve our community through the My City Summit. 

With recent increased attention on the downtown Fort Wayne development projects that were specified in the Regional Cities proposal – a downtown arena, riverfront development, Cityscape Flats, Embassy improvements, Clyde Theater renovations, and more – YLNI believes these projects are vital to the community’s growth and continued momentum. YLNI membership encourages local and state governments to partner with local and regional economic development organizations to find viable solutions that would allow financing for these projects to come primarily from private funding, with support from public funds.

YLNI recently surveyed its membership to gain insights on how individuals within the organization feel about the various development projects taking place downtown and the responses were overwhelmingly positive.

“One of the benefits of being a member of YLNI is having a voice and influence in community development, and our collective voice has said loud and clear that if Northeast Indiana is going to continue to be a desirable place to live and work then investment in downtown Fort Wayne is essential,” said Ryan Krueckeberg, YLNI Vice President.

In 2014, YLNI identified the following priorities for advancing its mission of attracting, developing, and retaining emerging leaders: early childhood education, increased funding for downtown development, increased resources for entrepreneurial programs, and equitable funding for public higher education institutions. The projects contained in the Regional Cities Initiative address those priorities.

To showcase the future for downtown and receive public feedback, YLNI, along with the City of Fort Wayne, Greater Fort Wayne Inc., Visit Fort Wayne, Downtown Improvement District, Arts United, and Magic 95.1, will host a Downtown Blueprint Block Party on the Landing. The block party is on October 22 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public. 

Looking for a frightfully fun time this October?  This month Architecture & Community Heritage (ARCH), Fort Wayne’s organization for historic preservation, is offering tours of Fort Wayne that will give you chills!  Learn true stories about West Central Neighborhood on the Haunted History walking tours or listen to frightening tales of Headwaters Park and The Embassy on the Fright Night walking and bus tours.  Be sure to check out their website for more information and to purchase your tickets today!

The cost of the walking tours are $10 for adults and $5 for children (ages 6-17) and the bus tour is $15 for adults and $10 for children (ages 6-17).  

  Haunted History of West Central Walking Tour        October 10 @ 7pm - 8pm        October 24 @ 7pm - 8pm   Fright Night - Murder, Mystery and Mayhem Walking Tours        October 17th @ 6pm - 11pm (Every hour on the hour)   Fright Night - Murder, Mystery and Mayhem Bus Tours        October 17 @ 6pm - 11pm (Every hour on the hour)

Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night? Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic? Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre or ghost?  If the answer is "yes," then don't wait another minute. Pick up the phone and call the professionals...Ghostbusters!

Join Sweets.So.Geek for their last movie night of the year!  Big Apple Pizza and Vietnummy will be there serving their delicious food!  There will also be a psychic doing tarot card readings, Fort Wayne's BSR Paranormal on site talking about real "ghostbusting,” Cinema Center with their world famous beer tent, and more! 

Where: 3410 N. Anthony Blvd., Fort Wayne, IN 46805

When:  October 10, 2015 

Events start @ 6:30pm

Movie starts @ 8pm

Join Science Central on October 3, as they put the science in science fiction. As part of Science Central's 20th anniversary activities they will host a special event celebrating science fiction, fantasy, gaming, comic books and more. Take photos with classic Star Wars characters including the 501st Legion, R2-D2, and even the Death Star! Man the bridge of a Starship or join a gaming session.  Buy from vendors in the marketplace or participate in a panel of local experts including discussions from local university professors discussing the science in popular science fiction movies, members of the Midwest R2 Builder’s Club discussing how their robots work, and the 501st Legion discussing what it takes to become the world’s largest Imperial costuming organization.  

Do you like to tinker, fiddle, dabble, or diddle?  Then you, my friend, are a maker.  The maker culture has increased in popularity as of late thanks in part to Maker Faires, Film Fests, and most importantly Maker Spaces such as the Allen County Public Library Maker Labs.  The Maker Lab is collaborative work-space and a great place to learn and use new technologies, get help with a project you are working on, or even help with starting an entirely new project.  Do not miss out on some of their cool October classes/workshops!  To register for classes/workshops, or to find out more information about the lab and the lab’s hours, click here.

All workshops are free, but advanced registration is needed (patrons will need an email address).   3D Printing is $1.00 for things printing in less than 60 min.,  $2.00 for things printing in less than 120 min., $3.00 for things printing in less than 3 hours, etc. 

Allen County Library Main Branch for October:

3D Printing Workshop - Tuesday, October 6th @ 6:30pm - 8:30pm 

3D Printing Workshop - Saturday, October 17th @ 10am - 12pm

Georgetown Branch for October

Soldering 101 - Mondays @ 6pm - 8pm

3D Printing 101 - Tuesdays @ 6pm - 8pm & Saturdays @ 2:30pm - 4:30pm

Light Up Halloween Masks - Wednesdays @ 4:30pm - 6:30pm

Conductive Paint Jack O Lanterns - Wednesdays @ 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Adobe InDesign 101 - Thursdays @ 6pm - 8pm

Sewing 101 (Coffee Cozy) - Saturdays @ 11:30am - 1:30pm

Tonight, Riverfront Fort Wayne is showcasing the Historic Wells Street Bridge.  In 1884, when New York was putting a cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty and D.C. was finishing the Washington Monument, Fort Wayne was erecting the Wells Street Bridge.  Today the bridge stands as one of the only surviving examples of a 19th Century truss bridge originally designed to carry heavy traffic.  So this evening take a step back in time and head down to The Wells Street Bridge.  Grab something to eat from renowned Fort Wayne food trucks Affiné and Pizza Bomba and then listen to the music of The Fierce Invalids as they perform traditional acoustic blues and some old time country.  The event is free and everyone is invited!  

And don’t forget to check out the 

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.  And you certainly don’t want to miss the end of this year’s Living Fort Wayne Film Series.  There’s no better movie to say goodbye to summer than with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  So call in sick this Saturday and come down to the AEP Plaza for family activities, food trucks, and music.  

Free Admission When: Saturday, September 26th             7:00PM – Family-Friendly Activities, Food Trucks and DJ Josh Elias             8:00PM – Start of Featured Film: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Where: AEP Plaza (Downtown)