David cofounded Designs for Learning in 1992 and has served as vice-president, president and CEO. He has hired incredibly talented leaders and now chairs the company’s Board of Directors as envisioned in a succession plan established many years ago. He challenges and supports company leadership as they establish and maintain a wide variety of high-quality client services. He also assists with development of new programs and services as the organization constantly seeks to reinvent itself

David has a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Memphis, with an emphasis in Adult and Higher Education. Before joining Designs for Learning, David was a system engineer at IBM and gained extensive experience in rural post-secondary education, serving as director of institutional evaluation and planning, associate academic dean, and vice president for student services at a small private college in Arkansas.

Volunteer and public service activities include serving as Executive Director of SHIFT, an organization that supports people in mid-life transition seeking greater meaning in life and work (2013-2016), and as one of 15 national Encore Innovation Fellows (2013-2015), teaching eight-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (2012, 2013) and Mindful Self-Compassion (2017) classes at Common Ground Meditation Center.

David now enjoys working from home in Denver, with frequent trips back to the Twin Cities for meetings and face-to-face collaboration. He is actively engaged in social change efforts, particularly racial justice, impact investment and mentoring education-oriented entrepreneurs. He is an Angel Investor with Rockies Venture Club and a member of Social Venture Partners, Denver. David also enjoys running (Twin Cities Marathon 1992, 1994, 2014, 2015 and Boston Marathon 2016), reading, music, travel, hiking, non-technical mountain climbing (Long’s Peak, CO Rockies, elev. 14,256 ft., six times 1978-2016), biking, SCUBA and computers.