David Garrison
CEO Connect Networks
Media
Social
Biography
He co-founded Climate & Capital Media, a non-profit news organization covering the business of climate change, and Climate & Capital Connect, it's sister venture focused on building professional networks. His work in climate gives him a rare vantage point across capital, policy, and operational dimensions of climate and sustainability.
David's career has been defined by a single throughline: helping leaders turn strategy into action through human connectin. As a founder, executive, and adviser—including as founder and CEO of The Brytemoore Group and a founding principal at Edelman Consulting, the management strategy consulting arm of the global Edelman network—he spent decades at the intersection of brand, strategy, and organizational change. His clients and audiences have ranged from Fortune 500 leadership teams to mission-driven startups.
He speaks and advises on the design of high-impact conversations and networks, turning strategy into lived experience, and the role of connection and culture in driving lasting change.
David holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and a BA from McGill University.
Industry Expertise
Areas of Expertise
Accomplishments
2012 Eddy Award for Innovation
2012-08-01
The Eddy Awards recognize Edelman employees and engagement teams for consistent effort in advancing the caliber of Edelman's work.This award recognized achievements in developing a combined qualitative and quantitative model for identifying, prioritizing, managing, and tracking emerging strategic communications issues across a global client organization.
Education
McGill University
BA
Economics
Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth
Executive Program
Leading Innovation: From Idea to Impact
2012
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
MBA
Languages
- French
Media Appearances
A System for Unexpected Connections | David Garrison
What If Instead? Podcast online
2026-01-15
“Building a new kind of muscle around curiosity in networking has real business and social impact.”
– David Garrison, Founder & CEO of Connect Networks
In an era in which algorithms make so much interaction transactional, what if instead we could reopen windows for surprising one another, for "opening up storylines, instead of closing them down?" In this episode of What If Instead?, hosts Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Mim Plavin-Masterman sit down with Connect Networks CEO David Garrison to explore how to create a system for unexpected connections—and “unleash meaningful one-on-one conversations” at scale. When you unlock those connections, you find extraordinary power for creative problem solving—where it’s not comfortable, but you think in new ways. Can we do this systematically? Can organizations and communities weave together "the corners of the network that would normally never connect," to spark innovation and build ecosystems for change? Listen to the episode to learn what David's research and experiments have revealed—and how he's making this available where it hasn't been before.
In Brand Relations, Think Globally to Succeed Globally
US News & World Report online
2013-12-10
Quoted on integration of marketing activities.
Event Appearances
Guest Lecture: An Intro to Operational Branding
MS in Communications Practice Columbia University
2015-12-02
Guest Lecture: Applying an Operational Branding Lens to Communications Strategy
MS in Communications Practice Columbia University
2014-11-19
The Thriving Patient Relationship: A Practical Approach to Building a Lasting Patient Relationship Through Your Dispensary
American Association of Naturopathic Physicians 2014 Annual Conference & Exhibition Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix, AZ
2014-08-08
Style
Availability
- Keynote
- Moderator
- Panelist
- Workshop Leader
- Corporate Training
Articles
Kate Williams: Going beyond 1% for exponential environmental impact
Climate & Capital MediaDavid Garrison
2022-07-15
CEO of 1% for the Planet says companies can make a bigger difference when philanthropy is a core part of their strategy and aligns with their brand.
Most people know 1% for the Planet for its network of member companies that commit to donating 1% of their revenues to environmental issues. But Kate Williams, the CEO of the nonprofit, says there’s an even greater opportunity when companies embrace a strategic approach to giving. In this conversation with Climate & Capital’s co-founder David Garrison, Williams explores ways that capital giving can pack the greatest punch.
