David Wilkinson

Dave Wilkinson Dave Wilkinson Commissioner Connecticut Office of Early Childhood Yale Law School Hartford, Connecticut 500+ 500+ connections Connect Connect with Dave Wilkinson More actions Dave Wilkinson is Commissioner of Early Childhood in the State of Connecticut, directing a new state agency overseeing all programs for children under six in the state with an emphasis on generating better results for vulnerable children and families. David Wilkinson is the former Director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation. He led efforts in the Obama White House to identify and scale better, more effective social solutions, advancing Presidential priorities that strengthened communities and enabled upward economic mobility. This involved identifying programs that work better through use of data and evidence as well as scaling what works through smarter use of federal resources and public-private partnerships. In addition, Dave coordinated efforts to attract and deploy America’s talent in support of effective community solutions, advancing human capital solutions from national service and volunteerism to better management strategy. In this role, Dave drew from an extensive background in impact finance, social entrepreneurship, evidence-based policy and organizational management. He previously served the White House as Senior Policy Advisor for Social Finance and Innovation, assigned to the Office of Social Innovation and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Prior to his work at the White House, Dave served as Executive Director of City First Enterprises, a federally regulated nonprofit bank holding company and incubator of social finance solutions. Prior to City First, he helped lead a successful effort to launch a community development bank in New Haven, CT and has served as Executive Director of Common Cause New Jersey. Dave was selected by Next American City Magazine as a member of its Next American Vanguard, an annual “40 under 40” award honoring urban innovators. Dave is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Yale Law School.