David Stanley
Managing Director
David Stanley is a managing director at Arabella Advisors. He leads work focused on advocacy with clients in the Western United States, where he partners with families and individuals, foundations, corporations, and nonprofits to advance social change. David is deeply passionate about helping philanthropists and social entrepreneurs use impactful campaigns, grantmaking initiatives, and donor collaboratives to turn their visions into reality.
David brings two decades of experience at the intersection of nonprofits, philanthropy, and public policy. He has been a senior leader at organizations focused on expanding educational opportunity for underserved youth of color. He has also served as a consultant to philanthropists and organizations using innovative approaches to improve public policy on behalf of marginalized communities.
Prior to joining Arabella, David was the founding vice president of the Alliance Foundation, a philanthropic hub in Los Angeles that brings together supporters of public charter schools and educational equity. During the 2018 election cycle, he supported a coalition in California whose efforts helped to elect diverse candidates to the state legislature. In this effort, he worked with independent expenditure committees, as well as 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) organizations. Before that, David was a leader at Students Matter, a Silicon Valley-based nonprofit that ran litigation campaigns to expand students’ rights in California and nationally.
David spent the first half of his career in leadership roles at Teach for America. He began his career as a sixth-grade math teacher in Harlem, New York City.
David earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Yale University and a Master of Science in teaching from Pace University. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.