Bruce Umpstead

Bruce Umpstead is the Senior Manager of Credentialing and Learning Pathways for the Alliance for Decision Education. Before joining the Alliance, Bruce worked with education agencies and nonprofit partners nationwide to advance competency-based learning and digital credentialing. His career spans leadership roles in edtech, data systems, and policy initiatives focused on expanding access, equity, and career readiness.

A strategic systems thinker, Bruce designs equitable digital learning ecosystems that work for both educators and students. His work centers on scaling data and technology infrastructure, digitizing learning standards, promoting the use of digital credentials and transcripts, and helping schools recognize learning wherever it happens.

Bruce earned his B.A. and M.B.A. from Michigan State University. His career began in eLearning, where he led finance and operations before moving into K–12 education as a Math and Science Partnership project director and later Michigan’s first State Education Technology Director. Over the past decade, he has worked with national organizations and state partners to expand digital credentialing, school-to-work pathways, and shared IT services.

Bruce lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is the proud father of two adult daughters who escaped to Florida to avoid the cold. He spends his free time hiking and backpacking across the U.S. and Europe—and occasionally telling stories and jokes on stage.