Dave Schutz joined iDE as Business Development Manager in April 2014. Since February 2018, he has taken a new role as Director of Global Business Development. Dave focuses on aligning iDE’s programming priorities with funding opportunities from bilateral and multilateral donors, foundations, and corporations. He earned an MA in cultural anthropology/international development and a BA in technical journalism, both from Colorado State University. He has more than 15 years’ experience as a writer and editor, and for his master's fieldwork, he studied smallholder livelihoods in the Ecuadorian Amazon from the perspective of students of an NGO-run technical high school focused on ecotourism, agriculture, and microenterprise.
Dave is also a Design Ambassador representing iDE HQ. He is excited to have the opportunity to spread design thinking at the Denver headquarters and keep everyone informed of all the great design work happening across iDE’s country programs. As a trained anthropologist, Dave is especially interested in design thinking from the anthropological perspective, as he believes that the kinds of user insights that lead to transformational solutions require deeper research than just a focus group or questionnaire.
Read about iDE's Design Ambassadors.