Riggs Joins Elevate Indy

Troy Riggs became chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department early in 2015.

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Urban youth-focused nonprofit Elevate Indianapolis has announced Troy Riggs will become interim president and chief executive officer beginning next month. Riggs, the former chief of police for the city of Indianapolis, will also continue his job as vice president at Sagamore Institute while leading Elevate on an interim basis.

Riggs succeeds Jim Shaffer, who has accepted a four-year appointment by Governor Eric Holcomb to serve on the Indiana Parole Board.

Shaffer co-founded Elevate Indianapolis in 2015, modeling it after Colorado Uplift in Denver and Elevate programs in Orlando, Phoenix and New York. Organizers in those markets have boasted collective graduation rates of more than 95 percent. The organization connects urban high school students with a diverse roster of full-time teachers and mentors to teach a curriculum of 13 character qualities and life skills as a class for credit. The organization is a partnership among business and community leaders and Indianapolis Public Schools.

Riggs resigned as IMPD chief in late 2016 after almost a year on the job. In January, he was named vice president of the Indianapolis think tank Sagamore Institute, which was co-founded by former U.S. Senator Dan Coats.