TechPoint Foundation for Youth Elevates George Giltner to President and CEO

Indianapolis (July 20, 2020) – TechPoint Foundation for Youth (TPF4Y) today announced that George Giltner, one of the organization’s first employees and current VP of STEM Education, will serve as President and CEO. Giltner replaces Interim President and CEO Steve Ehrlich.

The decision followed an extensive search and was a unanimous decision of the TPF4Y Selection Committee and the Board of Directors. 
“We could not be happier with having George in the leadership position for the Foundation,” said Tom Adkins, head of the search committee and Chairman of the TPF4Y Board of Directors. “We are in great hands to continue to execute our mission of ensuring Indiana’s underserved youth have access to STEM experiential learning opportunities.”

In his more than 4 years leading STEM Education programs for the Foundation, Giltner grew the robotics program by 835 percent. He began his career in the STEM field as a Technology Education teacher and FIRST Robotics coach at Carmel High School. Giltner is also an entrepreneur who created the successful STEM youth camp, FIRSTEP, that has been in existence since August 2011. George was selected as Indy's Best & Brightest award recipient for the education & nonprofit section in 2018, an elite honor given by Junior Achievement of Central Indiana. 

“With his combined experience in management, STEM education and history with the Foundation, Giltner is the perfect candidate to take on this new role,” Adkins said. TechPoint Foundation for Youth ensures Indiana’s underserved, K-12 students have access to experiential learning opportunities that increase STEM knowledge and inspire STEM career exploration. To achieve the vision and mission, TPF4Y serves as a connector for our many partners and allies, an accelerator of STEM learning opportunities, and a steward of high-impact STEM programs. Steve Ehrlich, co-founder and original board member of TechPoint Foundation for Youth, assumed an interim leadership role for the Foundation in April after Laura Dodds, who had served as the organization's leader since 2009, resigned.“George is the right person at the right time for TechPoint Foundation for Youth. He has more than proven himself to the Foundation’s stakeholders over the past four years,” Ehrlich said. “His is a great success story; I can’t wait to see what George does next.”Giltner said he was humbled at the show of support.

“I’ve gotten used to being thought of as the state’s robotics guy,” he said. “It’s going to be bittersweet to let go of those daily operations, but I’m really excited about taking the Foundation to an even greater level and to reach even more young Hoosiers. Demand for tech sector careers isn’t going to slow down anytime soon, and I’ve seen some amazing raw talent all over the state through our programs. I’m excited to provide equal opportunities of Technology Education access for all boys and girls to help them achieve STEM career access and success.”