General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Workforce & Economic Development Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana  Susan Brooks serves as General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Workforce and Economic Development for Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. She is responsible for the leadership, direction and development of Ivy Tech’s statewide strategies and programming in workforce development.  She is an integral part of the state’s strategic initiative to develop a trained workforce to attract and retain businesses in an effort to bolster the economic viability of the state.  Brooks oversees more than 180 workforce development professionals who provide more than one million hours of accelerated, certified training to more than 20,000 workers.  Ivy Tech’s workforce and economic development department awards more than 15,000 workforce certifications each year. 

Previous to Ivy Tech, Brooks served six years as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.  She was appointed to that role in 2001 by President George W. Bush.  As U.S. District Attorney, Brooks supervised a staff of 29 lawyers, who serve as Assistant United States Attorneys, and a support staff of 35 people.  The Unites States Attorney is the legal representative of the United States Government for both civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions and serves as the official spokesperson for the Department of Justice with relation to activities occurring in the Southern District of Indiana.

Prior to her appointment as U.S. District Attorney, Brooks practiced at Ice Miller in the Government Services Practice Group.  During the time she was with Ice Miller, she was involved in many civic organizations.  She served as Protocol Chair for the 2001 World Police & Fire Games hosted in Indianapolis; Chair of the United Way’s Violence and Safety Impact Council; Indiana Federal Community Defender Board; and Marion County Commission on Youth Advisory Board. 

Brooks also served as Deputy Mayor for the City of Indianapolis under Mayor Stephen Goldsmith.  During her service as Deputy Mayor for the City of Indianapolis, her work focused on crime, the criminal justice system, and social welfare issues.  She served on the boards of Marion County Community Corrections; Indianapolis Downtown, Inc.; Indianapolis Violence Reduction Partnership; Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee Race Relations Leadership Network Committee; Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis Board of Advisors; Marion County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council; United Way Strategic Planning Committee; Clarian Health’s Community Plunge Steering Committee; and Employers Against Domestic Violence Initiative.

Prior to joining the Goldsmith administration, she practiced criminal defense law from 1985 to 1997. 

Brooks was named as an "Influential Woman of Indianapolis" in 1999 by the Indianapolis Business Journal/The Indiana Lawyer.  She was also named to the Indianapolis Business Journal’s "40 under 40" list.  Most recently, she was named by the Indianapolis Business Journal as Who's Who in Law in 2002 and was listed in the “Power” edition of Indianapolis Monthly in August 2007.

Brooks earned her J.D. from Indiana University School of Law and B.A. from Miami University in Ohio.  She is originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana.