Community

Happy Retirement! We will miss you!

February 4, 2021

Reminders and alerts for Purdue Extension CD educators.

For more than 20 years, George Okantey has been a Community Development Extension Educator for Purdue University.

He is well-known in the Indianapolis area as the “guru” of urban community development and leadership training. He is passionate about designing practical learning opportunities that solve problems and improve the quality of life of Marion County residents and beyond. George provides expertise and resources for planning and visioning, leadership and civic engagement, implicit bias awareness, workforce development, capacity building and leadership renewal retreats. He collaborates with decision-makers, organizations, businesses and schools to develop, implement and sustain these initiatives.

With the social and political capital that George has built over the years in the Indianapolis area and beyond, he could easily have become an independent consultant or been lured into private industry. But, at heart, George is a public servant, a man who believes in leveraging his skills for public good, and ultimately, for systems change.

He is a past president of Indiana Leadership Association, the vice president of the Indiana Extension Educators Association, and a member of the Local Initiative Support Corporation’s quality of life advisory committee. He is a recognized educational partner of the Maple Crossing Great Place and a member of the Mapleton-Fall Creek Community Development Committee. As a result of George’s investment in the Fathers and Families Resource Center, the organization has achieved threefold agency reporting and accountability improvements.

Neighborhoods and communities across the state of Indiana would not be as vibrant as they are today without the influence and support of George Okantey. We, at Purdue Extension, are blessed that he has chosen to spend the majority of his career transforming lives and livelihoods as one of our treasured colleagues and friends.

We wish him well in all of his future endeavors!

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