Fred Payne sits for an interview July 13, 2022, at United Way of Central Indiana’s headquarters in Indianapolis. Payne started his new job as the nonprofit’s 15th president and CEO on July 18, 2022.

Early in his time as commissioner of Indiana’s Department of Workforce Development, Fred Payne met a woman whose life changed because of a single opportunity.

She’d been living in poverty and said she’d worked every fast food and minimum wage job she could find, Payne said. She needed a high school diploma, but she couldn’t take time off work to finish school.

Then she applied to a state program that partners with employers who continue to pay employees while they’re earning their high school equivalency.

A year and a half later, she had a diploma in hand. The trajectory of her life had changed, Payne said. And it had a ripple effect, changing the trajectory of her children's lives, too.

“That one act of her picking up the phone and calling and asking about a program … led to her getting a full-time job, two promotions and enrolling in college courses,” Payne said. “Those are the types of things that change an individual. And when that happens, it changes a community.”

Today, Payne starts his new job as United Way of Central Indiana’s 15th president and CEO.

Payne said United Way and its partners help meet people’s basic needs, which allows them to connect to education and training so they can live the lives they're capable of – just like the woman he met when he first started working for the state.

“It is really seeing the value in each person,” Payne said. United Way “does a lot of work that helps support people to get to whatever their next level is. That's the role that it’s played in the community ... for 104 years in Central Indiana. That's the role it will continue to play. But it has evolved in such a way that it’s able to meet the challenges of today.”

Originally from Louisiana, Payne moved to the Hoosier state to attend law school at Indiana University and met his wife shortly before he graduated. They settled in Indianapolis, where they’ve lived for more than 23 years. They have four children.

He joins United Way after leading the state’s Department of Workforce Development for nearly five years.

Payne said he plans to do a lot of listening and learning in his first months on the job – and ensuring that United Way completes its strategic plan. He plans to listen to voices throughout United Way’s seven-county service area and use data to help drive decisions, he said.

We spoke with Payne about his plans for the nonprofit.

(This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)

What inspired you to take the leadership role at United Way?

It really goes back to a passion of mine; it’s something that was instilled in me as a child. And that is: helping other people to live the lives they're capable of, and to help people out in their time of need.

Because United Way is a leader in helping people live better lives and helping them move from poverty into sustainable living, it was an opportunity for me to be part of that mission on a daily basis and to help have a positive impact on our local community.

What defines your hopes for a healthy and thriving Central Indiana?

When I see individuals who want to live better lives, I see all the capability that Central Indiana has.

Central Indiana has the community that really wants, and does, support people. It has the diversity of thought and brain power to help move ideas to action. When I think about a thriving Central Indiana, I think about all of those components coming together. And when those components come together, we can move quite a few things in an impactful way.

The major thing is moving individuals out of poverty to a sustainable life, and having people live the life that they’re capable of living.

What do you see as your high-level vision for United Way of Central Indiana?

My big vision is to ensure that we are continuing to do what United Way of Central Indiana does well, and that is having partnerships and getting good work done with and through our partners.

We will continue to strengthen those partnerships – but also have a greater partnership with government and other not-for-profit organizations in a strategic and intentional way. I believe that many good and actionable ideas can come from more people at the table who are focused and have a passion for helping others, which uplifts all communities.

I want to make sure we’re nimble enough to change with the situational things that may happen in our society. As we found over the past few years, things change pretty rapidly. In order to be most effective, organizations should be nimble enough to meet the challenges of that moment.

Diversity, equity, inclusion and belongingness play an important role in United Way’s work. Where do you think we should be in the future with our diversity, equity and inclusion work?

Organizations that are well-positioned like United Way of Central Indiana have a plethora of opportunity and individuals who want to help. They are from different backgrounds, experiences, geographies, ethnicities and genders. We want to make sure that we’re harnessing all of that creativity and energy to ensure we’re approaching every single issue of focus in our community from the lenses of the people who are living in those communities and from the lenses of people who are at the table, who want to help.

If we get all of those perspectives in one room, focusing on eliminating poverty, there’s no limit to the progress we can make.

Can you tell us about the roles volunteerism and charitable giving have played throughout your life?

As a child growing up, my father was a minister. As a family, we made sure individuals who needed some assistance received it, in some way.

We would do things like assist in food drives, and sometimes we would take personal items or gifts that were given to us and give them to others who were in need.

One of the things that my father always tried to instill in us: Make sure that our neighbors were taken care of just as we were taken care of.

As a parent, that has stuck with me. One of the things that’s really important to my wife and me is to ensure that our children understand the value of ensuring that people around us are taken care of – and that we look out for them.

Because at the end of the day, we are really all in this thing called life together. We don’t move forward in life as a single unit. We move forward in life with our surroundings, with our neighbors, with our friends. … We have to make sure that we’re reflecting our values, and part of that is ensuring that people’s needs are taken care of.

You led the Department of Workforce Development for 5 years, including during the coronavirus pandemic. What needs did you see in the community during that time? How has that prepared you for this job?

I saw quite a few needs in the community that surrounded individuals gaining employment and keeping that employment.

There were certain basic needs barriers individuals had that prevented them from moving forward with needed training or education. Those things held them back from living the lives they were capable of.

Part of my role at the Department of Workforce Development was to work with different communities to ensure they had the education and training they needed to obtain the job and career they were capable of having.

It allowed me to see what some of their needs were. Part of it was, simply, the training. The other part of that need was understanding that a person may not have been capable of doing the training because some of the basic needs of their lives were not being met – whether it was transportation, having food, having shelter. Those needs have to be met before they’re able to get sustainable employment.

Part of the way that has informed me as I get into my role at United Way is to be able to identify those needs. How are we addressing individuals’ basic day-to-day needs?

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you?

I want to double-down on one thing that is important to me and to United Way: ensuring that people have an opportunity to live the life that they’re capable of living.

Our United Way helps to do that. I want to make sure that I’m a part of, and creating, an environment that helps sustain the work that has been done by those who came before me in this role, but also opening the doors to new opportunities for us to help people in greater masses.