Executive Director – Southern Region, IFF
David is responsible for providing leadership and management of operations, lending and consulting activities in Southern Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. Over nearly four years at IFF, David has worked on projects including early childhood center expansion, quality K-12 expansion, fresh food access, and nonprofit finance and co-location strategies. Prior to joining IFF in January 2015, David was the Senior Manager of Finance at The Desco Group, responsible for all portfolio finance functions including valuation, risk management, treasury and capitalization of the roughly $650M commercial real estate portfolio.
David has a B.S. in Bioengineering from Rice University, and an M.B.A with a concentration in Finance from the Olin Business School at Washington University. David taught 8th grade math in Houston Independent School District for three years prior to graduate school, and to this day this is one of his favorite career experiences.
David is an active community volunteer including various boards/committees (City Garden Montessori, Gateway Center for Giving, WEPOWER, Nonprofit Missouri, Missouri Public Charter School Association, St. Louis and KC CDFI Coalitions) and previously served two years as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for a child in St. Louis County.
David is an enthusiastic husband and father and enjoys traveling (especially abroad), reading, playing basketball, cooking, learning and most of all a good conversation.
How does GCG support your work in the philanthropic sector?
The Gateway Center for Giving is a critical community asset, helping philanthropy connect, learn and strategically invest in St. Louis. I’ve seen firsthand how the center of gravity and coordination that GCG provides has led to strategic and aligned investments in critical human services like early childhood and youth development. I’m also very appreciative that GCG has decided to journey towards a more race explicit conversation and analysis in philanthropy.