Her Story
About Macie
Macie Minier, LBSW, is the Director of Strategy and Evaluation at Coburn Place, a nonprofit focused on housing for domestic violence survivors. She stepped into the role a little over a year ago after serving as the organization's program analyst. She oversees the progress of the company's strategic plan, partners on grant compliance, spending, and reporting, leads program evaluations, and safeguards the quality of data across client databases. Minier brings nearly a decade of social work experience, beginning in direct service, where she provided case management to survivors in emergency shelters before moving into macro-level work. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Manchester University, holds a bachelor-level social work license, and is certified in change management. Earlier in her career, she served as Data and Compliance Officer at Mission 25. As Coburn Place's program analyst, she also led the organization's participation in Indianapolis' Continuum of Care Homeless Management Information System. A systems thinker who never loses sight of the people behind the data, Minier credits her mentors, Barb Burge and Celeste Evers, with teaching her to embrace hard conversations and keep growing. She favors candid, caring dialogue over surface-level pleasantries. Outside of her professional work, she volunteers with Junior Achievement's JobSpark program, which supports career readiness for children and youth.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Macie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to seeing both sides of the coin as a high-achieving systems thinker. My ability to analyze systems from a high level helps me maintain a big-picture point of view, where as my direct service background keeps me grounded in the knowledge that every number I work with represents an individual person or family.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
My mentors, Barb Burge and Celeste Evers, taught me that I can do hard things. They encouraged me to have the difficult conversations and to keep learning and growing with an open mindset. Both of these women provided great examples of perserverance and empathetic accountability, and have played a significant role in how I have gotten to where I am now.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell them not to give up and to keep pushing forward, staying open-minded, flexible, and persistent. Passions and pathways may change as you grown, and career paths can evolve in unexpected ways, such as into data analytics and advocacy.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Communicating effectively across different levels and learning styles has been my greatest challenge. This has meant learning how to take very high level, big-picture information and breaking it down to detailed, day-to-day related insights. Understanding who needs which details and how to tailor my communication style to the individual has created opportunities of growth which ultimately led me to move from direct service into macro-level work, where I can pursue systems change and long-term impact.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I believe being nice is not always kind, and being kind is not always nice. I value direct, honest conversations over superficial niceties because they build real connections and lead to meaningful improvement.
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