She gave up the White House for a palace of blue and gold, overseeing security, parking, maintenance — and an incredible list of other things — for Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

A loose light bulb in the rafters, a piece of hardwood court gone awry, a bat fluttering about during a Pacers-Clippers game.

Mel Raines is a senior vice president for Pacers Sports & Entertainment, heading up facility operations for the team's fieldhouse.

The NBA has 29 arenas; four are run by women.

"People are surprised," said Raines, who has a full-time team of 50 and hundreds of part-time employees. "They will ask, 'You are the one who does that?'"

She is the one who does that. And, perhaps, people shouldn't be surprised.

This Pacers franchise, it seems, is gender blind.

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Besides the team's newly-named assistant general manager, Kelly Krauskopf, four other women sit in high-ranking positions: Raines; Tatiana Holifield, vice president, head of digital strategy; Donna Zavada Wilkinson, senior vice president, human resources; and Shayna Sangster, associate director of marketing integration.

"There are a lot of companies that want to be inclusive or say they are, but the action isn't always there," said Holifield. "The Pacers have really shown there is action."

Times, they are a changin'

Of the 279 full-time employees working for Pacers Sports & Entertainment, 37 percent are women. Forty-nine percent of new hires last year were women.

When it comes to high-ranking jobs, the franchise is making great strides, setting an example for the league's other 29 teams.

The Pacers made history in December when the team hired Krauskopf as the league's first female assistant GM of the modern NBA era. Nancy Leonard held the same title for the Pacers from 1976-80, dealing with the business side of the team.

Krauskopf's role is to build a team.

She came to the Pacers after 17 years as general manager of the Indiana Fever. During her tenure, the Fever reached the playoffs 13 times, including three WNBA Finals appearances and a championship in 2012. For the past year, she had been overseeing the Pacers' NBA 2K League team.

Krauskopf, who was told right out of college she wasn't right for a sports television job because women don't know how to cover sports, is now charged with creating a championship culture and paving the way for the team's first NBA title.

"I feel like I'm a girl," Krauskopf told IndyStar in December, "who got picked to play on the boys team."

Pacers president Kevin Pritchard tried to shy away from the gender focus when he announced Krauskopf's new role.

"It's going to be made a big deal about (her being a woman) and the truth is she is just the best person for the job, period, end of discussion," he said. "It doesn't matter (her) gender, race, anything like that. She was the best person for the job."

More:Kelly Krauskopf: 'I feel like I'm a girl who got picked to play on the boys team'

More:Pacers Kelly Krauskopf's new job is to build championship culture

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Compared to its male professional sports leagues counterparts, the NFL and MLB, the NBA has earned accolades for its approach toward social issues. The NBA has long been an industry leader in hiring and promoting women.

The 2018 National Basketball Association Racial and Gender Report Card gave the league a B for gender hiring practices and said "no other men’s league reaches the same points for gender."

The league received a B, said Richard Lapchick, director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida and head author of the report, "because compared to 2017, there was a decline in women in professional positions overall in the NBA.

The Pacers were not one of those teams.

Mel Raines

Title: Senior vice president, facilities operations. She is also the president for the NBA All-Star Game local organizing committee for 2021, when the event comes to Indianapolis.

Time on the job: Four years.

Background: She grew up in South Bend and went to Indiana University. During her time in politics, Raines lived in Washington, D.C., worked in New York and spent time at the White House. Looking to move closer to home, she worked on Indianapolis' Super Bowl Host Committee. After the big game in 2012, Raines was chief of staff for congresswoman Susan Brooks before landing with the Pacers.

The role: "My portfolio is pretty broad," said Raines. "The box office, merchandise, all of our event production, event booking, security, parking, changeovers, housekeeping, food and beverage, all those core functions." While the Pacers play at Bankers Life, the fieldhouse hosts plenty of other events — 555 in 2018, which brought 1.7 million visitors and an estimated economic impact of $370 million.

Beyond the NBA: "Sports and entertainment is an interesting business. (One day, I am) sitting on a bull on at the rodeo. I might be driving a forklift the next day and then I'm talking to a Hollywood agent to book a top-tier show for the building," she said. "All those things can happen in the same day. We've had floods before and I'm on a sweeper soaking up the water with my team. Then, you're also making sure the 18,000 people here are having a good time."

Tatiana Holifield

Title: Vice President, Head of Digital Strategy

Time on the job: One month.

Background: She grew up in Chicago and earned her undergraduate degree at Columbia College before receiving an MBA from the Metropolitan College of New York. Holifield started her career in marketing, working in industries ranging from hospitality to television. Her entry into sports came when she landed a job at SportsNet New York, TV home of the Mets. Before coming to the Pacers, she spent the past three years at Viacom.

The role: Holifield oversees the digital strategy for all of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, the Pacers, Fever, Mad Ants and Bankers Life. "I'm really just growing our digital footprint as well as our social media," she said, "being able to build additional content opportunities for sponsorship."

Setting an example: One of her goals is to make sure the Pacers' digital outreach includes all audiences. "We want to mirror with our digital strategy," she said, "the people who are coming to our games."

Donna Zavada Wilkinson

Title: Senior Vice President, Human Resources

Time on the job: 17 years.

Background: Wilkinson grew up in Wilkes Barre, Pa., and went to Duke, where she played field hockey and studied business economics. She received her MBA at Vanderbilt, focusing on human resources. Wilkinson then went to work for Sara Lee Corp. for six years. "I made hot dogs, hams and corn dogs," she said. Wilkinson worked in union and non-union facilities in Memphis, Philadelphia and Dallas. After coming to Indianapolis for a startup with some of her business school classmates, she fell in love with the city. Seventeen years ago, while networking, she found out the Pacers were looking to add an HR person. She landed the job.

The role: Besides the obvious HR duties, dealing with payroll and benefits, Wilkinson has been a key player in getting more far-reaching programs in place. Most recently, Pacers Sports & Entertainment changed its maternity leave, allowing more time off for new mothers —12 weeks paid leave — and offering four weeks of paid leave for the partners of women who have had a child.

Hiring goals: "We want to be the preeminent place in sports where women want to come to work," she said, "where they can have a career and where they can really thrive."

Shayna Sangster

Title: Associate Director of Marketing Integration. She is also the driving force behind the Pacers Sports & Entertainment Women’s Network.

Time on the job: 4 1/2 years.

Background: Sangster grew up in Lansing, Mich., and went to college at Western Michigan University, where she ran track. She interned at USA Track & Field while in college and, after graduating, got a job there. For the next six years she worked and went to IUPUI to get her MBA with a focus in marketing and entrepreneurship. She applied for a corporate partnership position with the Pacers 4 1/2 years ago. She moved to the marketing side within the past year.

The role: In addition to marketing several branches of the organization, Sangster is the brain behind the Pacers Sports & Entertainment Women's Network. Two years ago, she helped launch the network with a goal of attracting, developing and retaining women. There are four pillars of focus: community, social, professional development and health and wellness.

Bringing men to the table: The network has more than 100 members and about 25 percent are male. "That's the biggest thing is we want men to be involved so they understand the female perspective," Sangster said. "So, if there is a room full of only men, they can speak up and say, 'Hey, we need the female perspective on this.'"

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @Dana Benbow. Reach her via e-mail: dbenbow@indystar.com.