Goering Center news: Jeanne Bruce wins Baldwin Volunteer Award

The 2019 Baldwin Volunteer of the Year recipient started her journey with the Goering Center rather reluctantly. More than a decade ago, Jeanne Bruce accompanied another Goering Center member to one of its breakfast programs. There she met Larry Grypp, the Center’s president at the time. Her brother-in-law, a Goering Center member himself, suggested to Jeanne that she and the marketing and advertising agency she co-founded, Hyperquake, join up. Despite all that, she was resistant.

“Volunteers are not made — nor do they serve — in just a year,” says Goering Center president Carol Butler.

It wasn’t until other Goering Center members shared the in-depth value Jeanne and Hyperquake could gain from attending Center programs and meeting other members that Bruce decided to be a part of it. But once she was in, she gave her all.

“Jeanne brings big energy and big ideas to any organization or team that she is a part of,” says Butler.

At first, Jeanne attended Center functions and institutes, but she eventually bought in and decided to play a more active role. She chaired an 18-month project that played to her strengths, one to enhance the Goering Center brand and refine its marketing strategies. The effort proved fruitful; in the years that followed, the Center has tripled its membership.

But that was only the beginning of the impact Bruce has made on the Center. Bruce went on to join the Goering Center’s board of advisors, eventually taking the helm of the 40-member advisory team and a seat on the Center’s board of directors. Butler says the results of Bruce’s contributions will be felt at the Goering Center for years to come.

“Jeanne has a clear sense of priority and what matters most in life, especially when it comes to family,” Butler says. “While we may not know what her next act will be, you can be sure that she will always be found giving more than she receives and making a difference in the lives of others.”