Leaders Change Lives
Lead Better. Lead with Impact.
Executive Coaching | Leadership Training | Tailored Strategic Consulting
Why Choose Impact Leader?
Impact Leader will assist your organization fine-tune to achieve the next level of performance and leadership improvement. We engage an extensive network of trainers and coaches using proven tools and approaches customized for your organization’s needs. Paula, Founder + CEO, of Impact Leader brings over three decades of diverse leadership experiences including governmental, not-for-profit, corporate and academic health settings. She most recently served as Director of Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services and as Missouri’s State Health Officer with a workforce of approximately 2,000 and an annual budget of $2.9 billion. Serving in this role, and as a member of the Governor’s Cabinet, provided Paula with unique, in-depth insights into strategic leadership, the power of non-partisan partnership, customer service and policy development, as well as insights into business and governmental intersections.
Leaders Change Lives.
Lead Better. Lead with Impact.
Meet Paula
From counseling individuals to shaping statewide health policy, Paula has led at every level. Her mission now is clear: guide leaders to strengthen their skills, thus improving their teams and ultimately their organizations.
Paula’s ‘why’ is the recognition that every organization across our nation and globe desperately needs better leaders. Right now.
Paula’s career began as a counselor impacting one individual at a time, followed by a multi- decade public health and healthcare career where policy changes can impact entire populations. Impact Leader - by facilitating leaders to improve their own skills thus improving their teams and thus improving their organizations – was launched to exponentially change lives through better leaders.
Heidi B. Miller, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
“Paula is an exceptionally responsive, intuitive, and inspiring leader and coach. Her clever substantive advice immediately moves people and projects forward. With her integrity, tenacity, compassion, efficiency, and the ability to unite efforts beyond potential political divides, she equipped me with the agency and intel to meet my professional and organizational goals. The legacy of her guidance—through teaching, role-modeling, and mentorship—is profound and enduring. I am deeply grateful for the lasting impact she has had on my leadership development and personal growth.”
What People Are Saying
Katie Manga
Chief Executive Officer, Gateway to Hope
“Paula's depth of experience, understanding and knowledge of the public health and healthcare delivery landscapes, combined with her lifelong commitment to positively impact people across Missouri has aided our work immensely. With her insights, we've been able to accelerate our organization's impact for women and breast health across our state.”
J.T. Lane
Managing Director & Public Health Lead, Premier, Inc. Advisory Services
“Paula Nickelson is an innovative, inclusive public health leader and expert, the kind of leader and expert you want to navigate the dynamic and complex times facing the nation’s public health system, including local and state health departments and their health system and community-based partners. While at ASTHO, I had the privilege of working with Paula for more than 5 years at the national level during her service as an ASTHO board member and pivotal member and voice of ASTHO’s Population Health and Informatics Policy Committee. Local and state communities face pivotal questions and multifaceted needs to solve the challenges of access to care, rural health, chronic disease, and overall health and wellness for their residents. Paula understands these complexities, the national policy dynamics, and the right ways to develop future solutions. With great integrity and a bias for action, she’s the authentic leader you want in the room and in the field with you to plot the course for a healthy future.”
