Bruce E. Decker is the founder and owner of Collective Impact, LLC. Since 2001, Collective Impact has provided capacity building services to help organizations and communities achieve their mission, realize their vision, and thrive!
Bruce is a skilled leader, planner, consultant, trainer, facilitator, and entrepreneur. He has been recognized for his work in family, organization, community, economic, and leadership development. Bruce has extensive experience working in the areas of strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, family support, prevention, system improvement, service integration, change management, coalition development, and capacity building … all with a focus on impact, results, and “thrivability.” Bruce has worked with a broad range of clients in the nonprofit and government sectors from a variety of disciplines in numerous states, throughout the Appalachian region, and nationally.
Since 2019, Bruce has served on the faculty/facilitator team working with partners to implement the Appalachian Leadership Institute (ALI). ALI is a comprehensive leadership and economic development training program for people who live and/or work in Appalachia and are passionate about helping their communities thrive. ALI Fellows participate in an extensive training curriculum developed by the Appalachian Regional Commission in partnership with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; The Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy; Tuskegee University; and Collective Impact. LLC.
Bruce has extensive experience working with organizations and communities to implement various home-grown, cutting-edge, and evidence-based assessment, planning, change management, evaluation, and transformation models. He has specific practice in community-level work, collaboration, the “collective impact” approach, and working in the intersections of various and diverse systems, disciplines, and industries. Bruce also has considerable experience building and restructuring family, community, health, education, and human service delivery systems through improved communication, increased coordination, and integration of resources.
Bruce served as Board President with Create Huntington, Inc., a grassroots organization that empowers residents to make positive change in their community. He was a catalyst for organizing and participating with the City of Huntington, West Virginia in the Community Progress Leadership Institute (CPLI) at Harvard University. CPLI is a prestigious seminar that equips community leaders with the skills they need to make positive changes in their approach to address vacant, abandoned, and problem properties, tackle blight, and spark revitalization. Bruce was also recently trained in Dr. Jan and Dr. Cornelia Flora’s Community Capitals/Wealth framework which helps communities more holistically, systemically, and strategically focus their development and revitalization efforts.
Bruce was a founding board member of the West Virginia Community Development Hub, a non-profit organization focused on supporting communities in their development efforts. He received extensive training through West Virginia Sustainable Communities Training Program (SCTP). The program focused on strengthening local leadership and building community capacity for sustainable community economic development and was rooted in Dr. Vaughn Grisham’s Tupelo Model of Community Economic Development.
Early in his career, Bruce was instrumental in the development and growth of a West Virginia community-based behavioral health/child welfare organization, Action Youth Care, Inc. (now called KVC), where he served as Vice President and Administrator and was responsible for over 130 professional and paraprofessional staff and a budget of nearly 5.5 million. Bruce also worked as a direct service provider with individuals with autism, mental retardation, developmental disabilities, and mental illness in community-based settings, as well as adjudicated youth with severe behavior and emotional disorders in a secure residential treatment facility.
Bruce served as a Family Service System Reform Consultant with Center for Schools and Communities, a Pennsylvania intermediary think-tank and technical assistance organization, providing leadership and management training, technical assistance, community and organizational development, consultation, and strategic planning for various Pennsylvania statewide collaborative system improvement and child and family well-being initiatives. While employed with the Center, Bruce received specialized training in Steven Coveys’ 7 Habits of Highly Effective People with a focus on applying timeless principles that yield greater productivity, improved communication, strengthened relationships, increased influence, and laser-like focus on critical priorities.
Bruce was also trained in the Communities That Care (CTC) system process which is a community empowerment strategy that emphasizes assessment and planning as the basis for program development and implementation and the Results Oriented Management and Accountability (ROMA) approach which is a sound management practice that incorporates the use of outcomes or results in the administration, management, and operation of programs and services.
Bruce received his Master of Arts in Organizational Communication and Leadership Studies with a concentration in Intercultural Competence from Marshall University. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Marshall as well with a dual concentration in Marketing Education and Social Studies and specialized certifications in Diversified Cooperative Training and Entrepreneurship.
Bruce is proficient at building relationships among diverse groups of people with the natural ability to inspire understanding, confidence, trust, and action. He has a tremendous passion for his work and finds great joy in learning, building enduring relationships, and helping others succeed.
Contact Bruce directly by email at bruce@collectiveimpact.com or by phone at 724.513.6019
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