EDUCATOR. ACTIVIST. ADVOCATE. LEADER.
Clif Marsiglio is an educator, systems reformer, and community leader who works with and for the people of Indianapolis. For three decades, he has pushed for practical, systemic change in public education, public safety, housing, and mental health. His work is grounded in a simple belief: public systems should serve people, not protect themselves.
As an educator and institutional leader, Clif works inside higher education to strengthen programs, improve student outcomes, and hold systems accountable to the people they claim to serve. He specializes in rebuilding broken processes, using data, transparency, and community voice to make institutions more effective and more equitable. He is known for asking hard questions and refusing to accept excuses when real lives are at stake.
Clif studied at Indiana University and Martin University, earning a Master’s in Community Psychology. His academic and clinical training focus on how inequality and social systems shape individual well-being. That perspective guides his advocacy: when problems are systemic, the solutions must be systemic too.
On the Near East Side, Clif works to rebuild trust between neighbors and institutions. He advances public safety strategies rooted in harm reduction, transparency, and measurable outcomes rather than rhetoric. He serves in leadership with the Near East Side Community Organization and sits on the board of the Citizens Alliance for Public Safety, ensuring that policy conversations stay connected to the people most affected by them.
Clif’s throughline is consistent: educate, challenge broken systems, build better ones, and do the work in public.
Personal Life
Clif lives in Holy Cross with his partner, Amy, and her two children, who keep him honest and regularly remind him that leadership begins at home. Their household is active and full — family bike rides, neighborhood cleanups, long dinners, and conversations that rarely stay small for long.
He is also the proud human of Indigo, an over-enthusiastic German Shepherd with a blue eye and no sense of personal space, and two cats who believe they are in charge.
When he’s not in the community, Clif gravitates toward projects. You’ll usually find him at a workbench, building, repairing, or experimenting. He’s a cyclist, a tinkerer, and someone who believes curiosity should never retire.
Amy, a wetlands scientist and accomplished costumer, brings both environmental stewardship and creative craft into their home. Together, they balance science, art, and just enough chaos to keep things interesting.