Bruce Garrison

Bruce has spent almost forty years working in the international nonprofit world. Over twenty of those years involved writing and editing magazines, books, newsletters and web content. He was Editor-in-Chief of a magazine that was printed in sixteen languages and circulated in seventy countries. He was fortunate enough to experience twenty-one years of living in England (he is dual UK and US citizen) working in global nonprofit activity: education, publishing, leadership development, and humanitarian projects, including famine and cyclone relief, as well as numerous other projects. He is now taking those forty years of experience and working in Refugee Resettlement, Advocacy, Coalition Building, Cultural Awareness, Leadership Development, and Global Migration.

He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Patchwork Indy. Patchwork Indy is recognized as a national leader in both practice and policy around Private Sponsorship and care for immigrants and refugees who are here in the US through lawful pathways.

In a time when the world is rapidly changing and we are facing challenges, both old and new, Bruce's focus in nonprofit work is on innovation. How can we do things differently? How can we do it better? In 2022, the Meridian Foundation of Indianapolis recognized Patchwork Indy for its innovation in addressing the affordable housing problem in Indianapolis. Again in 2025, the Meridian Foundation awarded Patchwork Indy for its work with resettled communities from around the world.

Recently, Bruce has been invited to participate in the Economy Working Group: Harnessing the Vast Economic and Social Contributions of Immigrant Communities at the 2025 Clinton Global Initiative during the 2025 UN General Assembly week in New York City.

With nearly forty years of experience in the nonprofit world, Bruce hopes he has learned a few lessons and understands what works, what doesn't work, and what could work — to continue to create a society and a world where every person is valued and treated as fully human. He is continually working to find ways to strengthen the resettled communities and leaders throughout Indiana and around the world. Intellectual Curiosity and learning to “Think Different” are key aspects of everything he thinks and does.