ACES Online

Casey Barrio Minton took office July 1, 2021 as the 75th President of ACES. A professor at the University of Tennessee she is beginning her 17th year as a counselor educator. Past leadership service includes being president of Chi Sigma Iota, the founding editor of the Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy, president of the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling and president of the ACES Southern Region.

Casey shared, “I have always come to leadership through a heart for service and a desire for community. From the early days, others invited me to leadership, and I accepted their invitation. I got started in counseling leadership as a master’s student who was invited to service and then elected roles in my Chi Sigma Iota chapter.”

Jane Meyers served as Casey’s mentor. Casey’s reflection upon the impact Dr. Meyers had on her leadership journey is summed up in this comment, “Jane Myers was and will always be my mentor. She helped me learn how to think strategically within an organization, to trust myself, and to use my voice. Jane seemed to always know when to push and when to pull back. I’ll never forget my first ACA conference. She walked up to me, tucked a breakfast ticket into my name badge, and told me to go in and sit with two giants in our field. She knew that I would have never gone if she asked — but also that my working-class heart would not let a $50 breakfast ticket go unused.”

Dr. Barrio Minton feels the way to get involved in ACES leadership starts with doing small things well. She suggests finding others with whom you connect and can share your hopes, ideas, and wonderings. Because there are so many pathways to leadership, she suggests the best way to get started is to get started.

When she’s not working, Casey can be found spending time with her eight-year-old daughter, Leah, and their pups Rosie and Sadie.