Embracing A New Opportunity

So, I have an exciting announcement…

After several months spent completing a rigorous and inspiring recruitment process, I’m proud to say I’ve accepted an offer to serve as a 2021 fellow for the Indianapolis Orr Fellowship. Starting next June, I will be a Marketing Partner for Innovatemap, a digital product agency in Broad Ripple.

For those who know me, this might come as a surprise. It’s certainly a shift from the path I’ve been on since high school as a reporter and editor.

But that’s the best part about this time in my life: The opportunity to immerse myself in something new and unexpected.

The world is changing fast, and companies like Innovatemap understand that best. Innovatemap is actively leaning into the work, strategy and bold thinking our future requires. And the future is now.

Many debates continue in journalism about how to improve coverage and save newsrooms in an increasingly digital world. I’ve been lucky enough to work at several incredible news organizations who are adapting in their own ways to this challenge, from TheStatehouseFile.com to Chalkbeat to WFYI and the Indianapolis Business Journal.

I know these organizations will continue to thrive, and I’m excited to cheer them on as I start a new path as a marketer with an eye for powerful, inventive digital products. I couldn’t be happier to begin that journey in my home city, Indianapolis, and with a company unrelenting in its mission to help more people make sense of the digital landscape.

This first-generation college student finally feels like she made it, and I have the world to thank. I’ll start with my new colleagues at Innovatemap for the amazing opportunity and for welcoming me with open arms: Sara Croft, Christian Beck, Tina Hafer, Mike Reynolds and so many more; Mannah Mace, my school lead for Orr Fellowship who offered consistently thoughtful guidance in the recruitment process; Scott Brenton, Orr Fellowship board chairman and co-founder; and the many current Orr Fellows who took the time to answer my questions and encourage this big decision.

My liberal arts education at Franklin College is the foundation of my professional success. I owe my thanks to my PSJ family of John Krull, Janet Williams, Ryan Gunterman and others for supplying me with countless opportunities to grow as a storyteller; to Randall Smith and Allison Fetter-Harrott for sharpening my knowledge of the world, from the classroom to New York City to Japan; to Hannah Adams Ingram for reminding me to treasure joy; and to the scholarship donors who kept doors open that would otherwise be shut.

My family, particularly my parents Eric and Charise Irish and sister Kaitlyn Irish, deserve everything for showing me the value of tenacity and hard work. I would be nothing without them.