Dave Lawson is an operationally focused, entrepreneurial financial leader with demonstrated success driving the financial strategy of growing, small to mid-sized non-profits and for-profit businesses.
As a fractional CFO in the nonprofit space, Dave has experience with a variety of organizations including Public Policy think tanks, Health & Human services, Community Health centers, Education and Publishing and an Artificial Intelligence media startup. He is skilled in navigating the unique financial challenges of the nonprofit sector and has expertise in cash management, strategic planning, grant administration, audit and tax requirements and reporting improvements. In the corporate, for-profit world, Dave’s fractional CFO experience includes retail clients in the Consumer Product and Cannabis markets. The majority of Dave’s CFO work is with organizations with revenue up to $15 million, including several startups.
Previously, Dave was a Vice President with NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast Corporation, Dave directed the financial strategy for multiple subsidiaries and integrated two acquisitions into parent financial and operational systems. He managed the finances of a $18M company with 4-year growth of 73% while modifying and installing systems to accommodate the projected high growth. Dave also recommended system improvements and new initiatives to support the successful launch of an $80M corporate-backed startup.
Earlier in his career, Dave was the finance lead of the team that launched pioneering cable network NECN. As part of the executive team, he scaled 3-year growth of 46% and helped NECN achieve profitability and positive cash flow in the sixth full year of operations. He also supported a partner divesture that valued the company at 37x EBITDA.
Dave has an extensive background overseeing the budgeting cycles and strategic planning requirements of several companies during times of growth and during economic downturns. He has managed Human Resource and IT teams and possesses a deep understanding of subscription and advertising-based revenue models, nonprofit management and Board of Director relations. He has collaborated with numerous technical and engineering teams on long-term operational and capital plans. Dave also has closely partnered with many sales and development teams.
Dave serves on the board of the Boston chapter of Financial Executives International (FEI) and has provided nonprofit management consulting as a volunteer with Empower Success Corps (ESC). He received his MBA from Babson College and a BS in Management from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. In addition, Dave is a Certified Public Accountant.
