Leadership Indianapolis hosts IMS panel on equity collaboration

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis Motor Speedway and other organizations joined together Thursday to broaden the face of motorsports with an event called Full Speed Ahead: Equity Collaboration. It served as a platform to discuss diversity and inclusion in racing.

Organizers say when they talk about welcoming people back to the track, they were not just talking about the stereotypical crowd. They’re talking about a diverse audience. They say many of the people they’ve welcomed over the last few days, many in the Black and brown communities, have never been to the track. While there is still a lot of work to do, this is one more step to building that equity and inclusion they talk about.

You can hear and feel the energy at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Representatives hope this energizes a new batch of fans.

“What we’re talking about is taking this tradition that has belonged to so many people in this community for over 106 races, and expanding it to everyone,” Chief Diversity Officer, Jimmie McMillian, said.

Leadership Indianapolis in partnership with the Indianapolis Foundation welcomed multiple IMS representatives to participate in a panel. They talked about areas where there have been improvements in the culture of racing, and where there’s room to do better.

“It was actually perfect synergy because the work at IMS they are doing for their race toward quality and change, and the work that Leadership Indianapolis does to convene conversations,” Ebony Chappel with Leadership Indianapolis said.

The Director of Community Outreach, Luisa Macer, and Head Recruiting Officer, Kristin Weeden, helped lead the conversations. Some shared stories of the shock some race fans have when they see a black person or woman doing this work.

Organizers say conversations like this helps confront issues of the past to improve the future.

“The conversation today is how we will do that. How we are affecting that? How we are making everyone feel welcome and invited? How we’ve invested in different parts of our community and different business owners,” McMillian said.

There is value in partnering with others to further spread the message and add to the work.

“My hope is that they will get some really good ideas about the kind of intentional ways that Indianapolis Motor Speedway and racing are working to diversify audiences and the relationship with the community,” Lean Nahmias with the Indianapolis Foundation said.