Dave
Wilkinson

Social entrprenuer

34, Washington, District of Columbia

Dave Wilkinson is Executive Director of City First Enterprises, a bank holding company that brings together socially motivated private capital and venture philanthropy to create business-oriented community economic development solutions. Dave manages the day-to-day creation of a $75 million fund that will create a portfolio of 1,000 units of permanently-affordable homes in Washington, DC.

Dave is also a co-founder and director of UpGuppy.com, a social media site that puts the fun and power of rankings into everyone’s hands. As a student at Yale Law School, Dave founded and directed the 25-member Banking Clinic, which coordinated all aspects of launching a $25 million start-up community development bank in New Haven, Connecticut. He also helped launch the Social Change Network at Yale. SCN is an active group of more than sixty progressive 2006 Yale Law graduates committed to harnessing the power of networks to create systemic social change.

Before law school, he served as executive director of Common Cause New Jersey, an 8,000-member organization that successfully used grassroots marketing techniques to foster local civic empowerment and pass laws in over 100 municipalities. Dave helped create freerelief.net, a “click-to-give�? philanthropic website that successfully channeled thousands of corporate sponsorship dollars to India Earthquake relief efforts in 2001.