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He never envisioned transforming pregnancy centers, but God had other plans
Marc Burmich has no doubt that it was God who compelled him to leave his successful consultancy business to turn a steady network of pregnancy support centers in the Phoenix area into a thriving, well-funded organization.
Burmich told Live Action News, “I was having lunch with the president and CEO of the center when he told me he was resigning and that God told him I was to be his successor.”
Startled, Burmich told the man that while he “loved him,” he was also “crazy.”
But with an executive-level background in marketing and more than 25 years of experience leading growth at venture-backed startups, as well as serving on the centers’ board of directors for several years, Burmich was well-positioned to do the same for Choices Pregnancy Centers.
Yet he had doubts he was the right person for the job.
“There was no way that was happening," he said. "I never had any inclination to head a non-profit organization, which was really a ministry. It was a massive responsibility and one I didn’t necessarily feel qualified to do.”
Yet that didn’t deter his friend, who insisted he was going to tell the board that Burmich would be his successor.
So Burmich did the only thing he could do at such a crossroad: he prayed about it for three months.
He said, “My wife immediately encouraged me to take the position. She said that I was always complaining that although I was making lots of money, I wasn’t doing anything to impact others, so why would I not do this?”
Burmich put together a “vision document” for the organization and presented it to the board.
“It was a rather ambitious vision,” Burmich said. “Like many non-profit organizations, the center was doing what they could with what they had but I wanted us to go higher, to think bigger than what we thought was possible."
He accepted the position the following week after his presentation. Then he went to work.
First, Burmich identified a “pay gap” within the organization. Because the average salary was so low, it was difficult for the center to find the right people to fill openings. He suggested generating more revenue to be able to hire key staff.
“We needed to expand our footprint, and to do so, needed the right internal structure,” Burmich said, explaining that he wanted the organization to function less like a ‘mom and pop shop.’”
He started by creating new positions, which eventually resulted in restructuring roles.
Burmich said he took his example from for-profit businesses, saying this "helped solidify our foundation, positioning us to better reach our goals and serve the women in the community."
He then sought out the right people to help bring new strategy and fundraising ability to the organization, bringing individuals on board from other established pro-life groups to transform and innovate in many areas, including marketing, advertising, and branding.
Rebuilding the client services team was also key.
Amid all the reorganization and hiring of staff, Burmich kept his eye on the bottom line. “I wanted to be a good steward of our finances," explained Burmich. "In fact, the same financial template is still in place today, seven years later.”
Under Burmich's leadership, Choices has seen revenue and funding increase, leading to the organization's ability to launch a mobile medical unit, expanding its outreach.
Looking ahead, Burmich seeks to expand medical services to meet burgeoning demand — now on track to serve more than 6,000 clients this year.
“Our client load is exploding,” Burmich said. “We attribute that increase to our marketing efforts and to partnering with other entities to serve abortion-minded women.”
While Burmich admits those conversations are harder and are taking longer, he sees an opportunity to better serve these women with the mobile unit Choices launched a year ago.
“The mobile unit is a fully equipped pregnancy resource center on wheels, strategically parked in specific parts of the state," Burmich told Live Action News. "We have some big believers in this concept who are helping bring this vision to fruition.”
Burmich’s vision to transform a small network of pregnancy resource centers into a thriving organization is a model that can be replicated across the country.
“We want women to know they’ll always be treated with care and compassion no matter what they ultimately choose to do,” he said. “And now, we’re uniquely positioned to serve more women in the Phoenix area than before.”
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Nancy Flanders
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·He never envisioned transforming pregnancy centers, but God had other plans
Marc Burmich has no doubt that it was God who compelled him to leave his successful consultancy business to turn a steady network of pregnancy support centers in the Phoenix area into a thriving, well-funded organization.
Burmich told Live Action News, “I was having lunch with the president and CEO of the center when he told me he was resigning and that God told him I was to be his successor.”
Startled, Burmich told the man that while he “loved him,” he was also “crazy.”
But with an executive-level background in marketing and more than 25 years of experience leading growth at venture-backed startups, as well as serving on the centers’ board of directors for several years, Burmich was well-positioned to do the same for Choices Pregnancy Centers.
Yet he had doubts he was the right person for the job.
“There was no way that was happening," he said. "I never had any inclination to head a non-profit organization, which was really a ministry. It was a massive responsibility and one I didn’t necessarily feel qualified to do.”
Yet that didn’t deter his friend, who insisted he was going to tell the board that Burmich would be his successor.
So Burmich did the only thing he could do at such a crossroad: he prayed about it for three months.
He said, “My wife immediately encouraged me to take the position. She said that I was always complaining that although I was making lots of money, I wasn’t doing anything to impact others, so why would I not do this?”
Burmich put together a “vision document” for the organization and presented it to the board.
“It was a rather ambitious vision,” Burmich said. “Like many non-profit organizations, the center was doing what they could with what they had but I wanted us to go higher, to think bigger than what we thought was possible."
He accepted the position the following week after his presentation. Then he went to work.
First, Burmich identified a “pay gap” within the organization. Because the average salary was so low, it was difficult for the center to find the right people to fill openings. He suggested generating more revenue to be able to hire key staff.
“We needed to expand our footprint, and to do so, needed the right internal structure,” Burmich said, explaining that he wanted the organization to function less like a ‘mom and pop shop.’”
He started by creating new positions, which eventually resulted in restructuring roles.
Burmich said he took his example from for-profit businesses, saying this "helped solidify our foundation, positioning us to better reach our goals and serve the women in the community."
He then sought out the right people to help bring new strategy and fundraising ability to the organization, bringing individuals on board from other established pro-life groups to transform and innovate in many areas, including marketing, advertising, and branding.
Rebuilding the client services team was also key.
Amid all the reorganization and hiring of staff, Burmich kept his eye on the bottom line. “I wanted to be a good steward of our finances," explained Burmich. "In fact, the same financial template is still in place today, seven years later.”
Under Burmich's leadership, Choices has seen revenue and funding increase, leading to the organization's ability to launch a mobile medical unit, expanding its outreach.
Looking ahead, Burmich seeks to expand medical services to meet burgeoning demand — now on track to serve more than 6,000 clients this year.
“Our client load is exploding,” Burmich said. “We attribute that increase to our marketing efforts and to partnering with other entities to serve abortion-minded women.”
While Burmich admits those conversations are harder and are taking longer, he sees an opportunity to better serve these women with the mobile unit Choices launched a year ago.
“The mobile unit is a fully equipped pregnancy resource center on wheels, strategically parked in specific parts of the state," Burmich told Live Action News. "We have some big believers in this concept who are helping bring this vision to fruition.”
Burmich’s vision to transform a small network of pregnancy resource centers into a thriving organization is a model that can be replicated across the country.
“We want women to know they’ll always be treated with care and compassion no matter what they ultimately choose to do,” he said. “And now, we’re uniquely positioned to serve more women in the Phoenix area than before.”
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Nancy Flanders
·Activism
Bridget Sielicki
·International
Bridget Sielicki
·Guest Column
Mark Lee Dickson
·Activism
Angeline Tan
·Activism
Angeline Tan
·Human Interest
Lisa Bast
·Human Interest
Lisa Bast
·Human Interest
Lisa Bast
·Human Interest
Lisa Bast
·Human Interest
Lisa Bast
·