Marcy Bursac :
When Risk Meets Calling
Marcy thought she’d found her lifelong lane—until she realized her calling was evolving. What started as a quiet leap turned into a national movement.
Bio
Marcy channels the perseverance and self-reliance she learned amid childhood turbulent home life dynamics into advocating for children. Volunteering at an orphanage led her to pick adoption as her Plan A. After meeting her two children over Mother’s Day weekend, she pivoted her career into technology to align her schedule with her new role as a mother.
She works full-time for a global software company and volunteers as the executive director of The Forgotten Adoption Option, an organization she founded to help find permanent families for the over 100,000 children available for adoption through the foster care system.
Marcy is a 4x author and podcaster. She holds master’s degrees in philanthropy and business. She was honored with the Pilot Pen G2 Overachievers Grant on The Kelly Clarkson Show, chosen as an Angels in Adoption® honoree, and voted People’s Choice as United States of America’s Mrs. Ohio 2022.
Topics
- How to re-skill and change careers midstream
- The mindset tools that helped her overcome imposter syndrome
- Navigating doubt after a career leap
- Adopting through foster care and what most people don’t realize
- The forgotten adoption crisis in America
- How the pandemic unexpectedly launched her mission
- Blending faith and practical steps in major life transitions
- The unexpected leadership lessons from working in corporate tech
- Creating a nonprofit from personal pain
- What it really means to “trust the process”
Guiding Questions
- What prompted you to leave a career in philanthropy you loved?
- What was going through your mind when the program rejection email came in?
- How did your experience adopting through foster care shift your sense of purpose?
- Can you talk about what it felt like to go from senior leader to corporate cubicle?
- What helped you mentally and spiritually stay grounded through uncertainty?
- How did the idea for your book and nonprofit first spark?
- What’s the biggest myth people believe about adoption through foster care?
- What was it like transitioning from serving people in need to now influencing systems?
- How did your faith shape the decisions you made in your career transition?
- What advice would you give to someone who feels “stuck” in a good job?