David Staal

Following a successful 13-year corporate marketing career with Fortune 500 companies, David invested his next 22 years in nonprofit leadership. His nonprofit experience includes serving over a decade as the CEO of Kids Hope USA, Interim Executive Director of the Transforming Center, and on the Grand Valley State University / Kirkhof College Board (five years as Chair).

 

As a local and national media spokesperson for mega church Willow Creek and its international church association, David was director of the country’s largest children’s ministry program. His substantial public speaking experience, from board presentations to press conferences and event audiences of over 5,000.

 

At Kids Hope USA, David exponentially expanded the organization (fundraising, infrastructure, and program reach) from a single office to a national program. During his time at the Transforming Center, David engineered a dramatic turnaround that restored the organization from near insolvency. While at Willow Creek, David helped develop and execute a $74 million capital campaign and served as liaison to the White House and Secret Service to coordinate an event with the President of the United States. After he transitioned to serving young people, he was named by Outreach Magazine as the second most influential youth pastor in America for back-to-back years. His passion for creativity earned him two US patents for innovative design in medical equipment at Abbott Laboratories.

 

David has published eight books and also spent a dozen years writing leadership columns for Christianity Today, Inc., served as an adjunct marketing professor, and received executive education from Booth School of Business (University of Chicago) and Ross Business School (University of Michigan). His deepest learning, though, emerges from seven years of quarterly silence and solitude retreats that he continues to prioritize.