About Us

Who We Are

The Impact Collective is a 501c3 nonprofit ministry inspired by the life and work of Chris Toomey. Chris spent his life on mission loving Jesus and others, investing his life providing spiritually transformative experiences for students and young adults. The Impact Collective continues that investment by leading trips and providing support to students, coaches, and ministry leaders serving on domestic and global mission trips.

The Impact Collective exists to empower college student-athletes to live on mission—to go into the world with courage, compassion, and a commitment to follow Jesus wherever He leads.

We partner with coaches, ministries, and athletic programs to plan and lead mission trips that combine service, discipleship, and spiritual formation.

Our goal is not just to send teams abroad. It is to cultivate leaders who reflect the love of Jesus in everything they do, on and off the field, across borders and across lives. Like Chris, we believe that faith should move beyond comfort zones, beyond personal goals, and into lives that are forever changed by the Gospel.

Every trip, every relationship, every act of service is an opportunity to embody the truth that the love of Jesus is real, powerful, and meant to be shared.

What We Do

Our Vision

To be a community of people demonstrating the love of Jesus in a way that transforms lives.

Our Core Values

Rooted in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, our five core values shape how we serve, because how we serve matters just as much as what we do. These values help us embody the posture and purpose of Christlike love, making our mission work both meaningful and transformative.

  • Extravagant Love

    We lead with selfless, Christ-centered love that puts others first, following the example of Jesus who gave Himself for the sake of the world.

    • We let go of our need to control the outcome or make it about ourselves, just as Jesus humbled Himself and took on the role of a servant (Philippians 2:5–8).
    • We choose humility and curiosity, trusting that God’s Spirit is already present and active in every person and place.
    • We honor the image of God in every person, responding with deep compassion and respect, as Jesus did with the outcast, the broken, and the marginalized.

  • Intentional Community

    We enter relationships with the humility and grace modeled by Christ, seeking to build authentic communities shaped by love.

    • We see ourselves as guests, as Jesus did when He entered homes and shared meals–listening, learning, and honoring others.
    • We reject stereotypes and simplistic narratives, remembering that each person is fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Psalm 139:14).
    • We value people over agendas, reflecting Jesus’ ministry of presence, where He consistently prioritized individuals over efficiency.

  • Transformative Experiences

    We allow service to shape us as deeply as it helps others, trusting that God uses every experience to form us more into the image of Christ.

    • We hold our plans loosely, staying open to the Spirit’s leading and willing to be changed by God’s work in and through us.
    • We embrace discomfort and complexity, knowing that Jesus often led His disciples into hard but holy places of formation.
    • We let relationships and shared humanity reveal God’s heart to us, drawing us into deeper transformation and Christlike character.

  • Contagious Joy

    We serve with joy that flows from the hope and life we have in Jesus, rooted in gratitude and mutual respect.

    • We see each opportunity to serve as a gift of grace–not something earned but entrusted by God for His glory.
    • We rejoice in connection and shared life, echoing the joy Jesus found in community and the Kingdom of God.
    • We celebrate cultural differences as expressions of God’s creativity, finding joy even in unfamiliar or challenging contexts.

  • Lavish Generosity

    We give freely and sacrificially, imitating the generous love of Jesus who gave His very life for us.

    • We offer our time, energy, and presence with open hands, seeking no recognition, only to reflect the heart of Jesus.
    • We join in the redemptive work God is already doing, not as rescuers, but as humble co-laborers in the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 3:9).
    • We serve with a spirit of abundance, confident in the goodness of God and committed to honoring the God-given dignity of all people.

our team

Meet the People Behind the Impact

Our team is the heart of Impact Collective — a passionate group of leaders and community builders who plan each experience with intention, empathy, and excellence. United by our love for Jesus and driven by the desire to share that love, we seek to partner with teams to share the Gospel with intention.

Meet Our Team

Our Story

Who Was Chris?

Chris Toomey was a man whose life was shaped by the love of Jesus Christ. He did not just talk about his faith, he lived it with joyful urgency and clear purpose. Whether on a mission trip, at volleyball practice, or over a simple conversation, Chris carried the light of Jesus into every space he entered. He believed deeply that every person mattered, and he made people feel seen, known, and loved.

Chris invested his life faithfully as a college volleyball coach, pastor, teacher, mentor, and friend. A graduate of King University and the University of Tennessee, he was passionate about student-athletes and the unique opportunities they have to lead, serve, and live for something bigger than themselves. He traveled and led teams on over 35 mission trips to 5 continents, 14 countries, and 9 U.S. states–not to add to a list, but to pour his life out for the sake of the Gospel. His love for Jesus was not an aspect of his life, it was the foundation of it.

Though Chris’s earthly journey ended far too soon in 2022, the mark he left is eternal, etched into the hearts, communities, and stories of the people he loved and served.

How Did The Impact Collective Begin?

In the wake of Chris’s unexpected passing, his family was overwhelmed by the outpouring from countless people whose lives he had touched — former students, athletes, mission partners, church friends, and colleagues. Many asked how they could honor his memory, and gifts began to pour in. The initial idea was simple: create a fund to help send college students on mission trips, just as Chris had done time and time again.

But it quickly became clear that this was more than a memorial, it was a movement.

As the generosity grew and the vision deepened, Chris’s sister, Kelly Toomey Elliott, also a coach, mentor, and disciple-maker, along with their parents, Rick and Susie, and the rest of their family, founded The Impact Collective, turning what began as a tribute into a living mission.

This nonprofit was born not just from loss, but from legacy. It exists to continue what Chris lived for: investing in people and sending students out into the world equipped not just with skill, but with the heart of Jesus.

At the Heart: The Love of Jesus

At its core, The Impact Collective is about one thing: the love of Jesus. That love defined Chris’s life. It’s what drew others to him, what sent him around the world, and what gave him unwavering joy in every circumstance. And it is that same love we now carry forward, into new countries, new hearts, and a new generation of students who are ready to live boldly for Jesus.

Chris’s life was a testimony to the truth that when one person lives fully for Jesus, it can change the world. That’s the story we are continuing. That is the legacy we invite you to be part of.

Support Our Work

The Story Behind Our Logo

The logo of The Impact Collective, a stained-glass water drop, holds deep meaning, both personal and spiritual. It is more than a design: it is a reflection of who we are, what we believe, and why we exist.

One summer after college, Chris Toomey, the heartbeat behind The Impact Collective, spent several weeks serving with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in India. Alongside a college friend, Chris cared for the dying homeless, feeding, bathing, and simply sitting with them in their final moments. In that sacred space of suffering and dignity, Chris encountered the powerful call to love “the least of these” not just in word, but in presence.

Though he had already participated in many mission trips, that summer transformed him. It ignited a deep love for missions and for people from every culture and background, a love that shaped the rest of his life. One quote from Mother Teresa became especially meaningful to Chris:

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

That truth that every single life and every single act of love matters became a guiding principle for Chris. And now, it is part of the foundation of The Impact Collective.

Our logo is a single drop of water, representing the unique and powerful impact one person can make when they live the love of Jesus. Alone, a drop may seem small, but when joined with others, it becomes part of something vast and life-giving. That is the essence of our mission: to equip college student-athletes to live on mission, knowing that their “one drop” of faith, service, and love has eternal significance.

The stained-glass design of the drop tells another story, one of beauty born from brokenness. Stained-glass is a mosaic of fractured pieces brought together to reflect something far greater than the sum of its parts. We believe the same is true of us.

None of us are perfect. We carry scars, doubts, and fears. But Jesus does not call the flawless, He calls the willing. And when we surrender our broken pieces to Him, He creates something beautiful: a collective of grace-filled people on mission to reflect His love to the world.

Make a Difference Today

Your support helps us empower communities, develop leaders, and share stories of transformation. Every gift matters. Join us in creating a lasting impact by making a donation today.

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