47. From Clinical Social Work to Philanthropy with Monae Dale, LCSW

Monae Dale is a program officer at a community foundation in LA, and in this episode she talks about how she moved from direct practice into philanthropy. She started her MSW at USC already wanting to work in macro social work, but found that her program mostly pointed students toward clinical roles. She ended up spending years in a micro/macro hybrid role at a drop-in center for unhoused young adults, then moved into management, before finally making the leap into philanthropy!

We talk about the specifics of that transition, including working with a career coach to get clarity on her interests, learning to translate her clinical experience into language macro employers actually look for, and rewriting her resume and cover letter. We also get into the details about what she does day to day as a program officer. This episode is for anyone who has been curious about philanthropy or how to transition from clinical to macro!

We chat about:

Why a macro concentration in grad school didn't automatically translate to macro job opportunitiesMonae's take on why management roles often get mislabeled as macro workHow to translate clinical experience into language macro employers are actually searching forThe value of tailoring your resume and cover letter to every single jobWhat the job looks like as a program officer at a community foundationWhy looking at who funds an organization you admire can open up job leads you wouldn't find otherwiseWorking through the confidence shift that comes with stepping away from clinical work

Resources mentioned:

Follow Monae on TikTok270+ Job Titles for Social Workers PDFGreenhouse – job board mentioned as a resource for job searchingSocial Workers in Policy – YouTube channel featuring real social workers who have successfully transitioned from clinical practice into policy, advocacy, and systems-level leadershipEpisode 46: How to Find Quality Jobs as a Social Worker with Marthea Pitts, MSW

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