Dave Coats
Associate Director

Email: decoats@iupui.edu

Personal Profile:

Dave Coats, associate director, provides leadership in statewide initiatives, such as CUSIS, and manages partner relationships. A native of Indianapolis, Coats received his Licentiate in Canon Law from The Angelicum in Rome in 1988, and the Master of Divinity from the School of Theology at St. Meinrad in 1974.

Before joining Polis in 2000, Coats was executive director of The Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee (1996-2000), a non-profit organization that serves as a focal point of public-private partnerships in Indianapolis. While at GIPC, Coats guided a variety of projects including, development of recommendations leading to the Indianapolis Police Department’s implementation of a civilian review process. He also led a study of the effect of current property taxing system on central city Indianapolis, significantly increasing awareness of the complex problems associated with this issue. Before his services at GIPC, Coats was Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis (1990-94) and corporate director of human resources for the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County from (1994-96). Drawing on his background, Coats currently is working with the University of Notre Dame and Creighton University on an effort to examine cost management practices in Catholic hospitals, especially related to health insurance, using collaborative methods developed by Polis.

In his capacity as Associate Director for The Polis Center, Coats provides leadership to the team facilitating community partnerships and oversees community projects tailored to the needs of the individual partners.