Episode 8: Michael McKillip, Executive Director, Midtown Indy

While serving as Board President for the Maple Road Development Association in 2007, Michael McKillip helped establish Midtown Inc. and became its first full-time Executive Director in 2012. Since then, he’s worked on Indianapolis’s Plan 2020 ‘Connect Indy’ Committee, and today, he’s serving as a member of Indy’s CEOs for Cities Cluster while continuing to lead Midtown Indy, a community services organization committed to positively impacting the quality of life and economic vitality of the neighborhoods that comprise Midtown Indianapolis. In this episode, Mckillip shares the organization’s initiatives to revitalize and redevelop areas of Midtown, and some of the plans and programs currently underway to celebrate this unique community.

Transcript

Sarah Hempstead: Hello, and thank you for tuning in to Luminate Navigating the Unknown Through Creative Leadership. I'm Sarah Hempstead, principal in charge and CEO Schmidt Associates committed to positively impacting the quality of life and economic vitality of Indianapolis Midtown. Indie brings people, neighborhood associations.

Sarah Hempstead: Businesses and cultural organizations together to encourage collaboration that results in a more economically attractive, healthy, and sustainable midtown region. As a 5 0 1 C3 organization, Midtown, indie exists to cultivate an equitable, healthy, and sustainable community in which stakeholders of all races, incomes, and ethnicities have access to the resources that they need to thrive.

Sarah Hempstead: Its efforts are made possible through philanthropic support of area, businesses, institutions, charitable foundations, and individual stakeholders. Some of Midtown Indies initiatives include revitalizing, blighted commercial areas, redeveloping, vacant or underused commercial and residential properties, community programming to improve the quality of life, long range planning for development and economic stability.

Sarah Hempstead: And planned events to celebrate and to showcase the programs that make Midtown neighborhoods true community assets. And here to talk to me about Midtown Indie and his unique approach to community leadership is executive director Michael McKillop. Michael, thanks for taking time. Welcome to the show.

Sarah Hempstead: Thank you, Sarah. It's an honor and a privilege that sounds like a lot of work. As I read through everything that your very small but mighty staff is,  accomplishing in Midtown. Indie 

Michael McKillip: it. It has felt like a lot. Yes. 

Sarah Hempstead:  well, let's, let's start with,  I know you have a degree in political science from iu.

Sarah Hempstead: I'm sure all our Hoosiers are celebrating having you on the show today.  but you didn't start off in community development, right? No. You started off working with,  the legislative body, government affairs,  then real estate and renovations.  it's a really interesting path and I kind of wanna get into that.

Sarah Hempstead: But let's, let's go back even further to, um. Community involvement as a kid,  how were you even interested in this? Who encouraged you? 

Michael McKillip:  as a child, I never imagined doing this work, had no understanding of this work.  I think what I did understand is my, my mother and two of my other parents were nurses and,  all of the men on my mother's side of the family were in the military.

Michael McKillip: And so there was a strong commitment to serve. And to help others. And I think,  you know, I was a wayward student.  I was a terrible student. I, I had, was on academic prohibition my freshman year of college Yes. And almost lost my 21st century scholarship. I was,   sort of,  forced awake,  and I, that awakening came through,  political theory,  philosophy, constitutional law, and,  my passion became for advocating for others from a, from a policy perspective.

Michael McKillip: Hmm. 

Sarah Hempstead: That's awesome. I didn't know you were a 21st Century scholar. That's pretty interesting too. I was among 

Michael McKillip: the first, first graduating class of 21st Century scholars. 

Sarah Hempstead: That's excellent. 

Michael McKillip: Yeah. 

Sarah Hempstead: So let's talk about you graduate,  political science, you're gonna help others through policy. How does that lead to real estate and now to community development?

Michael McKillip: It was a very windy path.  I spent, I think seven years at the State House beating my head against the marble in granite walls.  went walk about into construction, but  it all really started when I bought a home in Midtown at 33rd and college. It had been a long abandoned home,  met some of the neighbors.

Michael McKillip: They had a need for someone to get involved in the neighborhood association.  I very quickly realized that the challenges facing the neighborhood were more than the neighborhood association could solve.  I got pulled into the,   a long organization called the Maple Road Development Association.

Michael McKillip:  very quickly became its president and sort of said, you know, what this corridor needs and what the communities need is really to come together. Because we're dealing with,  social and racial disparities. We're dealing with socioeconomic disparities, life expectancy, disparities, and we can't solve that as one neighborhood and we can't solve that as one corridor.

Michael McKillip: And so,  the get getting involved in Midtown was really an opportunity to bring all of the stakeholders together to begin to solve that. And I didn't think of myself as a community builder. I still thought of myself as a sort of contractor lobbyist person who. Understood how to build things, you know, foundation, walls,  utility infrastructure, walls, roof, that sort of thing.

Michael McKillip: And just sort of began to treat community development in the same way. 

Sarah Hempstead: So you were pivoting a little bit from knowing how to build physical things to building relationships. And that is a, one of the things really interesting about Midtown is, is how diverse the stakeholder group is. So as a, as a newbie to the neighborhood, how did you start doing that?

Sarah Hempstead: How did you start building relationships with such a disparate group of stakeholders? 

Michael McKillip: Well, I think it actually started with the house. You know, the, I was,  a Caucasian person moving into a predominantly black neighborhood.  and there was a lot of anxiety over what I was doing at the house. And was I a.

Michael McKillip: A flipper,  was I just, you know, was I an outsider who was just gonna turn this house over or was I really there? And so I think the relationships,  that I met with neighbors when they understood this was my home. I was bringing my family here. I cared about them. I cared about their story.  it became a very fluid and easy sort of path, one step after the other of expanding those relationships from my own neighborhood to the adjacent neighborhoods, to the institutions, to the businesses.

Sarah Hempstead: So how did you translate that to your move to,  to your new position when you left the presidency? Right. And now you're getting hired as the CEO.  what did that, what did that look like? 

Michael McKillip: Well, it was,  I was made part of the search committee for an executive director for a startup organization.  there were actually two organizations partnering.

Michael McKillip: There was Maple Road Development Association, which I was the volunteer president of, and there was Harmony, which was a startup group of. Former neighborhood presidents and residents who sort of thought there was a need for a, a, a larger organization. And so those two organizations kind of, it wasn't really a merger Maple Road cease to exist, but we invested in the proposition.

Michael McKillip:  or the question is, is there a place called Midtown? Is this that place?  is there a need for an organization to do this work? And if that work, what does that work look like?  and so serving on that board and, and that search committee of, you know, do is it time to hire an executive director?  I think I might've got hired 'cause I was the only one crazy enough to work for an organization with no money.

Michael McKillip:  no real clear plan.  and I was not afraid of challenges,  that are undefined.  I like the hard things.  I lobbied for hard things in Indiana and,  I'm really not afraid to sort of tackle those issues that,  don't really have answers,  where you have to sort of discover as you go. 

Sarah Hempstead: So that was way back in 2012.

Michael McKillip: Yep. 

Sarah Hempstead: And what were the, what were the initial big ideas,  strategy wise for the neighborhood? 

Michael McKillip: Well, I think,  the, the goal of the organization was to, to define the place that we know as Midtown today,  10 or 12 years ago. People didn't call it midtown.  what was its history? What were its roots?  could it become a place of employment, a place of identity, a place of connectivity, a place of investment?

Michael McKillip: Because that was an era of, of, in, in our community, we were experiencing a second massive exodus of residents.  the first occurred in the 1950s where our six southern neighborhoods lost 75% of their population,  post-school se  desegregation.  and then it happened again after the Supreme Court struck down Indiana's property tax structure and as residents in our more affluent neighborhoods began to make the value proposition that it was cheaper and easier or more financially advantageous to move somewhere else.

Michael McKillip: And so at that time we were losing residents, 20%, 21%,  population declined between 2000 and 2010. And so really that the early goals were,  what, what, what can we do to make it a value proposition to stay here? And that was investing in infrastructure and public spaces, in transportation,  in,  coordinating better with the city on how infrastructure is invested, safe routes to schools.

Michael McKillip:  it was helping people understand school choices because at the time, education was a big driver of why people would choose to leave.  if they didn't get in a, into an IPS lottery school or couldn't afford a private school. It was, let's move to the suburbs. And so really the early phase goals were to slow the, the, the exodus of people from our community,  and to ensure that we, we could be a sustainable for another a hundred years.

Michael McKillip: Right. 

Sarah Hempstead: So 10 years ago? Yeah, 10 years ago now.  and talk about what initiatives you think have really been effective to do that, to really slow, slow the bleed and then get Midtown to be a neighborhood of choice,  and some that you think really still need some work. 

Michael McKillip: Well, I think part of it was making,  early on, making people aware of their education choices.

Michael McKillip: We hosted the Midtown Education Summit for a number of years to help people navigate the process. I think IPS has gotten much better. Rural India has gotten better. That's become a thing of the past, but it was really investing in the people and the places that were already there. I think Tarkin and Park was one of those strategies of creating a community living room.

Michael McKillip:  it's now a $6 million amazing destination park,  in our community. And I think the organizing and the community working hand in hand when the budget, when bids came in high and the. Budget fell short, people lit, residents knocked on doors, and helped us close a million dollar gap in a, in about 12 weeks,  to keep that, that, that on track.

Michael McKillip: And I think,  the, the other strategy was really in partnership with Indigo,  to, to invest in transportation,  not just bus rapid transit, but the indigo forward proposition of increasing bus frequency,  realigning routes to higher density and, and more reliability.  and I think those investments along with the, the Midtown Economic Council on the Tax Increment Finance District, which,  was conceptual way back in 2012, but today has now leveraged,  almost a half a billion dollars in, in mixed use redevelopment of vacant obsolescent and underutilized property.

Michael McKillip: And so when things start happening, people start paying attention and people wanna know why things are happening and they, and they tend to wanna be, wanna be part of it. 

Sarah Hempstead: So where, looking back 10 years ago to now, where do you wish,  that more progress had been made in the neighborhood? 

Michael McKillip: I think,  it was probably that recognition I had in around 2015 or 20 20 16 when the, when the park was finishing and protesters showed up,  to protest the park.

Michael McKillip:  and I found myself sideways with the community that I thought we had worked really closely with, and it was really a realization that.  we didn't understand our privilege. Mm-hmm.  we didn't, you know, holding a traditional community meeting in a church in an evening. And where can families really connect to that?

Michael McKillip:  and I think people don't often get proactive,  in, in their neighborhood. They tend to react to things happening. Sure. And so I think a part of,  of. The, the positivity of it all was that the park happened and there were folks who were frustrated.  and it has led to deeper and deeper relationships.

Michael McKillip: But,  we don't wanna make those mistakes and learn from 'em. We want to avoid them from the beginning.  but, but certainly I think it was a powerful moment,  that that led people to want to be more involved and to want to be empowered,  to to shape their own community. Yeah. 

Sarah Hempstead: That's a, that's a great lessons learned.

Sarah Hempstead: Yeah. It's, it's sometimes hard except for in retrospect to figure out where, where you missed talking to somebody whose voice was really important. Right. Yeah. So let's, let's pivot a little bit to partnerships with,  other anchor institutions within your neighborhood because you have. You have quite a few very important organizations to the neighborhood, but also to the state.

Sarah Hempstead: To the city that are part of your partners. What, like the art muse like Butler University. Sure. What's that look like as you coalesce with, with these anchor institutions and.  bring them together with the neighbors in the community. 

Michael McKillip: Well, really the, the uniqueness of the Midtown community, having not only anchor Insti, half a dozen anchor institutions, the Children's Muse the International School, new Fields, crown Hill Cemetery,  the state fairgrounds,  all of those are, you know, they own 24% of the land that is in the geography we call Midtown.

Michael McKillip:  so they were obviously very important. But I think so too is the richness of the nonprofit community. We have.  not just that serves our community, but serves the whole State Girls Inc. The Villages,  IYG Coburn Place, the Martin Luther King Community Center. We have a really robust community that cares for itself.

Michael McKillip: And I think,  the anchor institutional conversations, you know, 10 or 12 years ago, these were institutions with walls or inside of bubbles.  and the opportunity of thinking of this as a consolidated place really, I think, inspired the leaders of all of those institutions to begin to collaborate and to listen, in part because their own campuses were growing,  and, and they didn't have stronger relationships with the immediately surrounding neighborhoods.

Michael McKillip:  and I think the, the coalition formed in around 2015 and led some pretty spectacular initiatives,  down payment and,  home repair assistance programs with INHP in the chamber.  where institutions incented their employees to, to buy homes in the neighborhood and the employees who live there to repair their homes,  they have been invaluable in,  reconciling with the engineers that 38th Street is not a highway.

Michael McKillip:  it is a road,  that serves,  about a dozen neighborhoods and should be treated like a road and not an interstate.  and so those. Partnerships have been tremendous and they continue to grow and and to change. I think we've seen a lot of changes in new fields recently in terms of,  their, their community engagement.

Michael McKillip: We've seen institutions like new Fields and the Children's Museum open their doors to surrounding neighborhoods,  with free memberships,  with  mid North Promise,  scholarship program.  and so I think what's happened over the, the last decade is really magical to see how institutions who serve our state or our region,  have begun to recognize and embrace the, the communities that they're located in.

Michael McKillip: Yeah. 

Sarah Hempstead: That's awesome. You have a small but mighty staff, right? There. Are five of you working on this? 

Michael McKillip: Four? There are four. Four now, but for the better until August of this year, there were just two of us. All right. 

Sarah Hempstead: Two of you working to accomplish this. Talk a little bit about working with, with your staff and how you keep,  keep everybody motivated, mission driven,  working on big problems with just, just a few of you.

Michael McKillip: Well, it's really the,  we, we, we are as an organization, first and foremost, a convener. And so while we don't have staff, we have many, many. Partners,  the, those nonprofits we talked about, those anchor institutions, the, you know, 20 distinguished distinct historic neighborhood organizations. And so really our job has been to, to, to, to convene and to listen.

Michael McKillip:  and the, the majority of the work is done by others.  it's really helping to helping people understand the value proposition of collaborating together.  you know, there was a time when every bridge in, in and out of midtown was, was crumbling. And,  12 years later, every one of those bridges has been rebuilt, in part because neighbors,   came together to, to, to prioritize the city's infrastructure, to help the city understand the prioritization of infrastructure.

Michael McKillip:  and so we as a staff,  we are always overwhelmed. We are always,  under serving because there are, there are,  I think at last count, 60,000 people call Midtown home,  3 million visitors through institutions.  and so two people couldn't possibly do all of the work. And so,  we're able to be effective because we focus,  and, and, and prioritize very specific things.

Michael McKillip: We spent years getting the community to embrace transit.  we had in the transit referendum 70% the highest in, in Marion County. The midtown community came out in favor of that, and so, and that's in part because our small staff uses our time wisely to focus on things that will really impact positively the most, the most number of people.

Sarah Hempstead: When you look, look at the next 10 years, we're talking about the past 10 years, look at the next 10 years.  if we were sitting here having that conversation, what are the big initiatives that you hope,  you and your staff and your partners have accomplished for Midtown? 

Michael McKillip: Well, I think,  sort of pivoting from just the convening role to more of an implementation and doing role.

Michael McKillip:  we, we've started that process with the Parkside Senior Housing Project, where we turned the old,  United Way headquarters into 60 units of affordable housing.  recognizing that historically the Midtown community.  does not have a positive,  hi. History on, on diversity.  the diversity kind of exists in pockets.

Michael McKillip:  and, and I think the goal in the future is to see diversity more,  thoroughly,  blended throughout our communities, increasing affordability in our less affordable neighborhoods.  it's in, it's, it's seeing more XBE business owners seeing higher utilization, so really focusing on workforce development.

Michael McKillip:  and then helping to complete the vision around transit. Transit was one thing, but transit oriented development is another.  midtown was cursed with, with unnecessary copious amounts of surface parking lots over the years.  and as we densify now, it's really time to, to embrace the utilization of transit and to see that densification to occur on some of those vacant and blighted corners on, on College Avenue and, and on 38th Street.

Sarah Hempstead: Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And of course, the transit network writ large, right? Right. It doesn't, the red line alone. Gets us one place, 

Michael McKillip: right. 

Sarah Hempstead: But we're not done 

Michael McKillip: well, and we, we are also,  blessed to be surrounded by greenways,  360 degrees around Midtown with the White River Trail and the Monan Trail and the Fall Creek Trail, and soon the nickel plate.

Michael McKillip: Mm-hmm.  and so part of it is to, to be mindful that these are positive investments that can have negative consequences.  and I think those, one of the things, if we could go back 10 or 12 years, is to really understand the implications of the actions,  in spur spurring development, encouraging development, incenting development.

Michael McKillip:  can cause displacement. And so we're, we're very,  sensitive to that. And now are really focused on ensuring that the stakeholders who are adjacent to and will be impacted by investments like the nickel plate construction,  and, and larger projects that are occurring throughout the, the BRT trajectory in Midtown,  to ensuring that folks are engaged in part of it and that those projects inherently,  employ more minority XPE vendors and contractors that, that business owners have those opportunities.

Michael McKillip: And that for all the market rate housing we're building, that we're being mindful of affordability and co integrating that,  into, into every project that occurs in our community. 

Sarah Hempstead: Oh, it is, it is a challenging part of community development. Working, working on the Mass F sector for a very long time.  our problem has flipped 180 degrees from not getting anyone to want to come down and live here.

Sarah Hempstead: To now not having affordable places to come down and, and live here. Right. It's a complicated challenge. Let's pivot a little bit to,  to mentorship. Who do you look to? Do you have a story of someone who has helped you to continue to grow as a leader, to see things more broadly, be better at coalition, and then how do you take those lessons and start talking to the, the next Michael who's graduating from IU this spring?

Michael McKillip: Well, I think,  a lot of people have had a hand in helping me shape the person and the kind of leader that I am.  and I think that e every aspect of what we do has is, is done, done in partnership with someone that,  I've learned something from,  emo teisa at the Keppra Institute. And understanding the community wealth building model has probably been the most impactful on the way I work and the way that I lead.

Michael McKillip:  and I, I don't know if he would know that I consider him a mentor, but I do consider him,  in his organization. And,  everything they're doing has really enlightened my perspective on the work that we're doing,  in a way that I don't think anything else that, that I, I could have experienced would have.

Michael McKillip:  and it, it's caused me to think,  you know, it's my obligation to ensure that others understand the lessons that I've learned.  and that, that I spend all of my leadership understanding, do you lead from the front? Do you lead from the back, or do you lead from the middle? And being willing to take all of those positions,  as well as,  ensuring that the next generation,  that, that I'm building the capacity of others,  not just growing my own organizational capacity, but, but building the capacity of Keppra and the MLK Center and Coburn and all of the other stakeholders in our community.

Michael McKillip: That's really,  our job is to help ensure that they're successful. 

Sarah Hempstead: Mm-hmm. As I've,  as I've talked to,  community leaders,  the last three years haven't been the easiest in the history of community leadership or organizational leadership at large. Right.  what do you think about when you think about your own.

Sarah Hempstead: Your own wellness as a leader, how do you take care of yourself so that you can, how do you put your own oxygen mask on so you can help others? 

Michael McKillip: I, I have a menagerie of hobbies,  that keep me healthy,   running.  I'm currently doing a 3000 pushup challenge in the month of November.  so when we leave here, I have to go do 50 of those.

Michael McKillip:  and then I've, I've embraced all things food. I've, I've launched on a, a culinary journey of cooking international foods that are, that are not familiar to me,  charcuterie, curing meat, and so, um. Those are the things that keep me healthy. And then the, the things that, that keep me rich in my work is, is sitting in Tarkenton Park on movie night, on October the first, and sitting with kids painting pumpkins and,  seeing the, the things that we've helped to, to make possible seeing them actually work,  seeing people utilizing them,  the, the last two years, the Juneteenth celebration at Tardo Park.

Michael McKillip:  and so seeing the things that we have impacted actually positively impacting the lives of others are the reasons I do this work. Every, every day. 

Sarah Hempstead: Yeah. That is probably the best prescription for good mental health, right? Yeah, it is. To be doing work that is,  that is meaningful and, and being able to witness it.

Sarah Hempstead: That's awesome. 

Michael McKillip: Sure. Absolutely. 

Sarah Hempstead: So, couple more questions and I really appreciate you spending time. One of the things I ask everybody is what are you reading right now, or what have you read recently that you would recommend as required? For anybody listening to this, this podcast? 

Michael McKillip: Well,  I, the, the book that stands out to me is Tangled Up in Blue, policing the American City by Rosa Brooks.

Michael McKillip:  understanding the impact of law enforcement in the communities that I serve and understanding,  law enforcement.  Rosa Brooks is a,  a law professor,  in, in Washington DC and actually became a police officer.  and understanding what navigating, you know, both the, from the community perspective and from,  being inside of a police department, what it, what, what it means.

Michael McKillip: And I think we could all,  given the times that we live in,  benefit from understanding how the, the job that police officers have,  the needs of the communities they're serving and the dynamics that are occurring,  in between those things. Yeah, 

Sarah Hempstead: that's a good one. We gotta write that down, Chad.

Sarah Hempstead: Yeah.  all right, so one final question.  if you had,  one story for anybody listening that you wish they knew about Midtown? What, what would you share? 

Michael McKillip: I think it would probably go back to that protest in the park.  that was really a pivotal moment for me.  standing with 300 angry residents who were reacting to a team being displaced from the park during construction.

Michael McKillip: While it wasn't our fault, we weren't the city, we didn't have fence put up.  understanding our, our culpability in that and not, not running from that, but instead embracing those who, who most hated us at that particular moment.  and the, and the journey that we've taken together to become very close friends,  with, with those stakeholders and, and very close partners.

Michael McKillip:  and that's, that's really who we are as an organization.  we own our mistakes. We, we don't have all the answers, but that at the end of the day, we will, we will own the things, whether we did 'em or not, we're responsible,  and that, that. I think that is attributable to the reason people trust us is because we, we have integrity.

Michael McKillip:  we, we don't have all the answers, but we certainly have the capacity to uplift other people,  in the ways that we have. And,  we're, we're here for them. Yeah. 

Sarah Hempstead: It's probably a good lesson for multiple people in multiple sectors. The angst doesn't have to be the end of the story. 

Michael McKillip: Right.  I think our, our greatest growth has come from conflict.

Michael McKillip:  and it's, it's unfortunate that the, the world tends to react so. So often to things,  that we can't, we can't,  proactively,  make the right decision. We have to make a wrong decision.  and then we have to sort of rewind and step back. And I think it's a healthy part of, of community development.

Michael McKillip:  and it's, it's one that's played an important role in, in our organization. Yeah, 

Sarah Hempstead: that's, that's excellent. Thank you so much for sharing that story. Thank you. And thanks for sharing part of your day with me.  I've really enjoyed getting to know you better, learning about the ways you're making Indianapolis stronger.

Sarah Hempstead: You know, I love Midtown. I'm there all the time. That's where we live, work, and play as well. So, thanks for letting our listeners hear about all the awesome things that you're doing. And to our listeners,  in Louisville and Indianapolis, come visit Midtown,  sport local businesses, the projects, the organizations that make this an outstanding organization.

Sarah Hempstead: For more information and to plan your visit, go to midtown indie.org where you'll learn a lot and you'll find plenty of cool things to do. Join the How many Million Visitors? 3 million. Join the 3 million visitors that come to Midtown each, each and every year. This has been illuminate, navigating the Unknown through creative leadership.

Sarah Hempstead: Thanks for listening, and please subscribe wherever you get your podcast to be reminded of new episodes, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram. Ann LinkedIn at Schmidt Associates and at Schmidt ASSO on