Dr. Washington is a philanthropy consultant whose work focuses on bridging the worlds of policy, business, and philanthropy for pro-social change.

David serves as senior advisor for philanthropy and policy to Lady Gaga and her Born This Way Foundation.

Viewed as an innovator and entrepreneur, he oversees multiple projects in the foundation, entertainment, and technology fields. David also serves as a Senior Advisor to the Information Technology Industry Council, the world’s leading trade association for technology companies including Apple, Cisco, Dell, IBM, and was the founding CEO of Change the Equation, the President Obama inspired CEO-to-CEO initiative focused on improving the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) achievement of our nation’s youth – bringing together members such as Google, Viacom, E-line, Tesla, DreamWorks, Sony Pictures, and Facebook.

David is a former President Obama aide who served as an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, where he was the lead liaison to the business and philanthropy communities.

Raised in West Los Angeles, David is a graduate of Yale University and studied abroad at Oxford University. Prior to attending graduate school he served as a mental health worker at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute & Hospital’s Adolescent In-Patient Unit before going on to complete his doctoral degree in forensic clinical psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. David also earned a Masters in Legal Studies from the University of Nebraska Law School.

David completed his clinical psychology internship at Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School. He was then awarded an American Psychology Association’s Congressional Fellowship and worked for Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on topics such as childhood obesity prevention and the Senator’s mental health legislative response to 9/11.

Dr. Washington founded “Partnerships for Purpose” (P4P), an initiative focused on identifying high-yield public-private partnerships between entertainment industry leaders, policy makers, large private foundations, and the business sector. He also serves as a Senior Fellow at USC’s Marshall School of Business.

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