Purdue Fort Wayne senior receives Orr Fellowship

FORT WAYNE, Ind.—The Orr Fellowship in Indianapolis is welcoming a Purdue University Fort Wayne graduating senior into its ranks. The group recently announced Dillon Valenti as a member of its 2022 class.

Valenti is on track to receive a Bachelor of Applied Science degree. He majored in visual communications with a concentration in small business management and a minor in psychology.

“When looking into my future, I really wanted to stay in Indiana for a while so that I could be near friends and family – and Indianapolis seemed like a perfect fit,“ said Valenti. “I’ve had some internships working on sales and marketing around Indianapolis and quickly fell in love with the area.”

Valenti first heard about the Orr Fellowship through Purdue Fort Wayne’s Career Development Center, where he was introduced to Ascend Indiana, a group that helps match people to internships and jobs.

“I decided to apply to Orr because all I’ve ever heard from people was how wonderful the program and the people involved were,” explained Valenti. “I had the pleasure of meeting multiple Orr Fellows both before and during the application process, and that really sold me on wanting to join.”

After applying and going through the interview process, he was offered a place in the fellowship, which includes a job at a start-up company in Fishers, where he will begin work in January.

The Orr Fellowship was created to match outstanding graduating college seniors with a full-time, salaried job at one of its member-companies. It also includes a two-year curricular program that provides professional development, skill building, continued learning, and peer and alumni networks, all while contributing to the growth of the program. The fellows are accepted from a pool of nearly 1,200 applicants, with about 8% being accepted.

The Orr Fellowship was founded in 2002 by executives at an Indianapolis-based, crowd-sourced company. It was named after former Indiana Governor Robert D. Orr, as two of those executives had previously worked for the former governor and admired that he had made economic development and education the cornerstones of his administration.

As might be expected, Valenti is looking forward to the fellowship and his new job. “I can’t explain how excited I am to begin this new journey.”

For more information, contact Valenti at [email protected], Kayla Clark at [email protected], or go to the Orr Fellowship’s website.