David McDonald

David joined The Conservation Fund’s Information Technology team in 2025 as Business Systems Director. In this role, David leads the development and enhancement of systems and processes that support The Fund’s conservation mission by partnering with leaders around the organization and implementing collaboratively developed solutions in the spirit of continuous improvement.

Prior to joining the Fund, David was with the American Diabetes Association for more than 18 years, where he most recently served as Director of Enterprise Business Applications, similarly overseeing a portfolio of mission-critical platforms, processes, and data. His experience includes a wide range of system implementations, process development, and data management from CRM to marketing platforms, ERP, HRIS, and beyond. David holds a Master of Science in Environmental Science and Public Policy from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Arts from Denison University where he studied Biology and Theatre and felt at home both in the science labs and on stage.

He is a hobbyist nature and bird photographer, continually seeking balance between technical capability with aesthetic quality in his work. He tries to keep his bookshelves similarly balanced with writings of Muir and Leopold near those of Chekov and Shakespeare. At the end of the day, he is a husband and father who thinks he is funnier than he really is and can cook better than he actually can.