Promoting the Impossible: 

Marketing the Indianapolis Cultural Trail

And they said it couldn't be done...actually, they never actually said that.  Hoosiers are much too polite to be so confrontational and negative.  What they did was smile agreeably and nod their heads (and then after he left, rolled their eyes) about this wild and crazy vision of replacing  seven miles of traffic lanes with a curbed, buffered, paved, landscaped, lighted bicycle and pedestrian path that connects every significant art, cultural, heritage, sports and entertainment venue in downtown Indianapolis.

Fortunately Brian Payne is a native Californian and mistook this politeness for encouragement.  He marched on and marshaled the community energy, partners and donors to make the Indianapolis Cultural Trail:  A Legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick a $63 million, unique-in-the-world reality.

Our Guest Speaker:

Brian Payne
President and CEO

Brian Payne is President and CEO of the $600 million Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) and The Indianapolis Foundation.  CICF is the result of the 1997 initiative between The Indianapolis Foundation, serving Marion County since 1916, and Legacy Fund Community Foundation, serving Hamilton County since 1991.  Since he joined CICF in November 2000, the Foundation’s annual grantmaking has increased from $15 million to over $40 million.  Under his direction, the CICF staff and board redefined the Foundation’s business model and created clarity and focus on how best to accomplish the Foundation’s mission to inspire, support, and practice philanthropy, leadership, and service in central Indiana. 

He is also Founder/Leader of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail:  A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick.  The Cultural Trail is a $63 million dollar,  eight-mile, beautifully designed and landscaped pedestrian and bicycle pathway that connects every significant arts, cultural, heritage, sports and entertainment venue in Indianapolis' dynamic downtown.  It was created by taking a lane of traffic away from cars and dedicating it to people on foot, bikes, segways and wheelchairs.  The national consulting firm, Project for Public Spaces chose the Indianapolis Cultural Trail as the best North American example of a big, bold, transformative project that is changing the way we think of cities and city life.  The US Department of Transportation awarded the Cultural Trail a $20.5 million stimulus grant, one of only 51 grants awarded out of 1,400 proposals submitted in a merit-based competitive process.

Brian is a native Californian.  Before making his home in Indianapolis, he was Managing Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz for eight years and worked for various theatre producing organizations in Southern California including the La Jolla Playhouse and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival.  He received both his Master of Fine Arts degree and Bachelor of Arts from UCLA.

Our Guest's Organization:

CICF is a public charitable foundation transforming central Indiana in three ways:

• By supporting donors, family foundations and their professional advisors on charitable giving.
• Awarding grants to effective not-for-profit organizations.
• Providing leadership to address community needs and seize opportunities.

CICF was established in 1997 as a partnership between The Indianapolis Foundation, serving Marion County since 1916, and Legacy Fund, serving Hamilton County since 1991.

With $550 million in assets, CICF’s mission is to inspire, support, and practice philanthropy, leadership, and service in our community. Our work is centered on our vision for central Indiana’s future. We envision our community being:

• Recognized for its superior support to those in need
• Acknowledged for its ability to develop, retain and attract educated, creative and community-minded citizens.
• Admired for being a remarkable place to live.