Mandi Mitchell, president and CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority, will be a member of the International Economic Development Council 2024 board of directors.
Starting in January, Mitchell will serve a two-year term alongside 25 economic development leaders from around the world. This board governs the non-profit, non-partisan membership organization retaining over 4,400 members of the economic development industry and providing them with the services and support to aid in success.
We reached out to Mitchell this afternoon, and she said her goal within this new position is to continue fulfilling this objective.
“In the role that I’ll be serving as a new board member at the IEDC, a couple of things that I would like to personally contribute to, one of them is to ensure that we continue the momentum in enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion, not just among the ranks of economic developers, but in the delivery of the services that we provide to our communities across the world,” she said.
The aim is to have the success of that mission trickle that growth down into the communities of these members. As the first Lafayette representative on this international board, Mitchell says she plans to bring these benefits to the local community by using the knowledge of the industry leaders around her to better bridge the gaps within the developing economy.
“I really am and will forever continue to be a sponge, and there are some things that we need to address in Lafayette, in our community, that I’m going be looking across the country and over in Canada and other places to learn how have they addressed some of these issues,” Mitchell said. “How do we have better alignment between K12 schools, workforce development, higher education and economic development, so that we are firing on all cylinders and so that we are the most competitive that we can be as a community?”
In her role with LEDA, Mitchell has aided in the growth of job opportunities and extensive economic development throughout the Lafayette community. Her new position allows her access to a greater wealth of knowledge and expertise that can be brought back home with her.
“What it’s going to mean for the citizens of Lafayette is having their economic development leader and representative in the room with folks that are really leading doing cutting-edge solutions to some of the challenges in the community and economic development,” Mitchell said.
