Welcome to the Lilly Scholars Network
Indiana’s Future. Our Focus.
The Lilly Scholars Network connects Scholars with each other, their communities, and the state of Indiana.
The Lilly Scholars Network (LSN) is organized to:
- Engage Lilly Endowment Community Scholars in topics and with people focused on advancing Indiana’s future.
- Inspire and equip Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to be active changemakers in their communities.
- Cultivate meaningful connections.
The Lilly Scholars Network is guided by Indiana Humanities and generously supported by Lilly Endowment.
History of the Lilly Scholars Network
Since 1998, the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program (LECSP) has transformed the lives of more than 5,200 young leaders in Indiana. The program addresses the importance of increasing the number of college graduates in our state by awarding scholars full tuition scholarships to an Indiana college or university of their choice. The scholarship program also strengthens the role of community foundations throughout the state, as they select and nurture the scholars from their respective counties.
In 2006, a small but mighty group of undergraduate Lilly Scholars from Butler University and Wabash College began convening and engaging in shared acts of service, learning, and fellowship with support from Independent Colleges of Indiana. This group called themselves the Lilly Scholars Network (LSN). They were eager to use their shared Lilly Scholar experience to give back and catalyze change in their communities and state. Their numbers grew and, as a volunteer organization, they offered a variety of service and social activities and hosted leadership summits for fellow scholars.
Inspired by the work of the growing Lilly Scholars Network, in 2017 Lilly Endowment, Inc. (LEI) invited Indiana Humanities (IH) to conduct qualitative and quantitative research to discover the needs and interests of the Lilly Scholars and design approaches to support scholars as they seek to effect change and grow their leadership capacity.
As LSN has grown and evolved, Lilly Endowment Inc. (LEI), Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI), Indiana Humanities (IH) and their partners have worked to engage Lilly Scholars more intentionally with one another, their community foundations, and Indiana leaders to improve the quality of life in communities throughout Indiana.
View the timeline below, which includes key LSN milestones.
Timeline
1998
Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program was created.
2006
The Lilly Scholars Network was started as a volunteer effort to bring Scholars together to network and give back.
2007
Scholars began forming collegiate chapters; the first chapter was created at Butler University.
2009
Annual retreats were established and volunteer efforts expanded with help from Independent Colleges of Indiana.
2012
The first volunteer alumni board was created.
2015
The Give Back INitiative was created to help Scholars make an even greater impact in their local communities.
2019
Independent Colleges of Indiana received a three-year grant from Lilly Endowment to fund and grow the network. The volunteer alumni board transformed into the first advisory council.
2022
Scholar Link mentoring program was created, plus new funding for full-time staff and expanded programming.
2023
Full-time staff hired, and the first in-person Lilly Scholars Launch was held. In-person events kicked off around the state.
2024
First Collegiate Connect event was hosted and Opportunity Fund was launched.
