While Maci Baurle and Emily Engelking have different professional backgrounds, the two share a similar passion: Nonprofit work.

When the two Seymour natives saw an open position for director of development and engagement at Jackson County United Way, each sent their résumé.

Little did the pair know United Way was going to hire both of them to work as a team.

Baurle and Engelking are settling into their positions with the nonprofit organization since starting in September.

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

Baurle, a 2011 Seymour High School graduate, brings four years of experience from the nonprofit sector.

Over the past four years, she has worked as a development coordinator and event production specialist at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in Louisville, Kentucky.

“All I have ever known is nonprofit work,” Baurle said. “I’ve been working on what feels forever to get back to Jackson County in a nonprofit position. This is literally a dream job for me. It’s an ideal situation to be in my county, still in nonprofit work. and working toward a better future for my community, my small town.”

Baurle will specialize in helping market the United Way on top of campaign work and fundraising.

“My role is more of the development side of things. It’s more of engaging with donors and the fundraising side,” she said.

“I feel like a lot of people aren’t familiar with United Way as much as they should,” she said. “I want to help United Way get the message out how the money stays in our county and how that’s such a big deal for all of us and how we all benefit from United Way and how we work with 20 other local organizations to fund their programs that align with our mission.”

After graduating from Hanover College with a dual degree in English and political science, Engelking, a 2012 SHS grad, spent two years serving in the U.S. Peace Crops in Ukraine.

While overseas, she taught in a small town near the Polish border.

When she returned to Seymour, she wasn’t sure what her next move was professionally.

“I had no clue what was next,” Engelking said. “I knew what I loved and what I was interested in. I just wasn’t sure how I would be able to get into nonprofit work and still be at home. This is where I need to be right now and where my life is.”

On top of working on fundraising and the campaign, Engelking will focus on youth volunteering engagement.

She said she wants more students volunteering and is working to put a program in place with local schools.

“Right now, we have a youth board member, Luke Turner, and he has been really instrumental in trying to help more kids get engaged,” she said. “Right now, we’re working on what we hope will grow into a program with the schools, but we’re still in the beginning stages of it.

“I want to really help try and grow our organization,” she added. “I want United Way to be something people understand. I would love to see more youth involved with what’s happening in the community and helping them build a place that they want to come back to. It’s not just about the work we do now but the work for future generations. To me, that’s building a community people want to live in.”

Baurle said she and Engelking have worked well together.

“We have very good strengths, but they are opposites,” she said. “That’s why we work so well together. She has the experience with the education and youth, and my experience is more with fundraising and marketing. We’ve been collaborating, and it has been working really well the last four weeks.”

Executive Director Tonja Couch said the organization is happy to have added Baurle and Engelking.

“During the interview process, our interview teams were so excited and saw great potential with both Maci and Emily’s complementary skill sets,” Couch said. “As United Way was finalizing its strategic plan, we saw how Maci and Emily’s talents would help raise more revenue and in turn create more lasting change with our funded partners. We are so excited they have joined our team.”

Engelking said an update on the this year’s campaign will soon be available. Look for a story on the campaign in an upcoming edition of The Tribune.