Elkhart, Ind. – enFocus, a nonprofit that attracts talent to regional communities to spark innovation, has opened an office in the ETHOS Innovation Center in Elkhart, Ind., furthering their ability to serve organizations in Elkhart County. The office will serve as a headquarters for the organization in Elkhart County. It will house enFocus Fellows and interns, and host programming for the community.

enFocus recently received $400,000 in funding through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and the Community Foundation of Elkhart County to expand its successful civic innovation program that matches recent graduates with regional organizations in need of innovation. The grants support the hiring of up to eight enFocus Fellows annually, who work as full-time employees in a one-year Fellowship program, and up to 40 enFocus interns annually, part-time students who work under the guidance of Fellows.

“We are excited to be at the ETHOS facility because it represents a center for innovation in the Elkhart community. We hope to inspire future leaders of the region with a space to co-create between students, young professionals, and local business leaders,” said Andrew Wiand, Executive Director of enFocus.

“Innovation’ is in our name, so working with enFocus is a natural fit! We are very excited to have our new neighbors and are optimistic about the positive impact on the youth, educators, and community in Elkhart and the region,” said John Taylor, CEO of ETHOS Innovation Center.

enFocus was founded in 2012 to recruit recent graduates to work as sponsored problem solvers in the corporate, non-profit, education and public sectors, enFocus Fellows and interns will work on projects with regional sponsors, ranging from data analysis and process improvement studies to the creation of new products and services for regional businesses. The ETHOS office space will serve as a meeting place for Fellows and interns to work collaboratively and engage with Elkhart community partners.

About enFocus
enFocus is a nonprofit organization that empowers talent to transform communities. We recruit recent graduates as Fellows and develop them into the next generation of community leaders, enFocus Fellows work alongside experienced mentors to discover, design, and implement innovative solutions for community benefit. We partner with local organizations to provide value on sponsor projects, and we give Fellows the tools to launch businesses or social ventures on their own.

To-date, enFocus has engaged over 650 young professionals from over 20 colleges and universities to work as paid staff on over 150 projects across Northern Indiana sponsor organizations. Nearly 100 of these individuals have stayed to call the South Bend – Elkhart region their home. Our Fellows have incubated more than 20 new businesses and created more than $50 million in economic impact through innovation projects for sponsor organizations.

Together, we are solving complex problems, growing businesses, and changing the way communities innovate. For more information, visit en-focus.org.