Wendy Dant Chesser is the President and CEO of One Southern Indiana, an organization dedicated to providing the connections, resources and services that help businesses innovate and thrive in the region.
Formerly, Wendy served as president of Cornerstone Alliance, a similar organization to One Southern Indiana in Michigan. Prior to her move to Michigan, she worked in various aspects of economic development for over seven years within Indiana and spent the last year of her government career as deputy executive director for Program Operations of the Indiana Department of Commerce.
Wendy currently serves as a chairperson for the Indiana Economic Development Association, after serving as legislative chair for three years. Locally, she serves on the Boards of Directors for the Kentucky Derby Festival, the Louisville Zoo Foundation, Ivy Tech-Sellersburg Trustees, Greater Louisville, Inc., Align Southern Indiana, Falls of the Ohio Foundation and Louisville’s Regional Airlift Development.
Wendy was named one of North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers of 2015 by Consultant Connect, a consulting agency designed to bridge the gap between economic developers and site consultants. The Indiana Economic Development Association awarded her the “Economic Development Professional of the Next Half-Century” in June 2018. In 2016, her Indiana peers named her the “Chamber of Commerce Executive of the Year.”
Wendy received her Bachelor of Science in business management from Indiana University 51ÁÔÆæ in 1991. She and her daughter, Joslyn, reside in Jeffersonville.