Executive Director & Head Coach
Episcopal Community Services
Dave is currently the Executive Director and Head Coach of Episcopal Community Services in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ECS’s mission is to ask stakeholders to Look Up and Challenge Poverty and to do so with courage, capacity, and will. The focus of ECS is to address the issues of Intergenerational Poverty through stability, prevention, and transformational impact programs based on leading-edge brain science that provides coaching and incentives to participants to achieve economic mobility, as well as targeted advocacy on appropriate public policy. www.ecsphilly.org
Dave also serves as director and Chairman on the boards of The Modern Group, Ltd, Delaware Valley Floral Group, Hoober Inc., and Verus LLC., and as lead director of Crazy Aaron’s Puttyworld. His nonprofit interests include serving on the boards of the Philadelphia World Affairs Council, The Economy League of Philadelphia, Friends of Foundation Academy in Trenton, Victory Farms, Ride to Work, and The Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University where he is Chairperson and a member of the Drexel University Board and executive, audit, investment, collections,and community partnerships committees. Dave is a director of the Griffith Family Foundation, and Chair of the McEwen Family Scholarship Fund. He is an advisor to the Caliper Corporation, IBM, and Journal of Social Innovation.
He is the former President and CEO of The Modern Group Ltd and remains Chairman. Before Modern, he was an executive with IBM and MCI. He is a former trustee and officer of The Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut, and a former director of the J J Haines Company and Mountain Laurel Spirits LLC. He is a past senior warden of Trinity Episcopal Church, and he is a past president of MHEDA, the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association, and past or current members of ARA, AED, NAW, and the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities.
He is a nationally recognized speaker on the issues of Leadership, Governance, and Family Business. Dave is a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and has spoken at Harvard, Temple, Kenyon, and Rutgers. He is the author of the blog Muddy Boots, www.wearmuddyboots.com, and a guest columnist at the Philadelphia Business Journal. Griffith is the founder and principle of “deg” Muddy Boots Consulting. https://www.degmuddyboots.com/
Dave is a strong advocate for the environment and the issues of poverty in America. He most recently keynoted on Poverty, Race, and Privilege at ECS ’s forum on Justice and Opportunity and Westminster. He believes that we are all called to service and that the most powerful voice for change needs to be our own. https://www.anspblog.org/challenge-from-new-board-chair/
He is a graduate of Kenyon College ’76 and The Westminster School ‘72. At Kenyon, he received his BA with honors in Economics and History. While at Kenyon, he played DIII Soccer and Lacrosse, volunteered with the local Fire Department, and served as both an EMT and on the fire line and worked as a resident advisor. He is also a member of the Lambda chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon. He is a member of Lookaway Golf Club, Sea Oaks Beach and Tennis Club, The Union League of Philadelphia, Balsam Lake Club, Trinity Episcopal Church, St Peter’s Episcopal Church, the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, and is a life member of Trout Unlimited.
He and his wife of forty-three years, Jacqui, have two married adult children, one grandson, and one active Westie. Dave is an avid fly fisherman and fly tier, and all things being equal would rather be on the waters of the Beaverkill.