About Us

David D. Chrislip is Principal of Skillful Means. He has spent the past 30 years helping people enhance their leadership capacities and create visions and strategies for their organizations and communities by working together. The broader purpose of his work is to build civil society. His work focuses on three areas: civic leadership development, collaboratively addressing complex community issues, and organizational strategy and development. His roles include research, writing, process design, capacity building, leadership coaching and consulting, and facilitation. He has served as a Senior Associate of the National Civic League and as Vice President of Research and Development for American Leadership Forum. He is the co-founder of the Denver Community Leadership Forum. He has taught graduate courses in leadership and ethics at the University of Denver and at the University of Colorado at Denver. For 20 years, he was a senior Course Director with the Colorado Outward Bound School and the National Outdor Leadership School. Previously he served in financial management positions with The Boeing Company.

An experienced seminar leader and consultant, Chrislip has worked with many communities and organizations, both nationally and internationally, and has conducted leadership development programs for several thousand students, managers and community leaders. He has written a number of published articles on politics, civic engagement, and civil society and is the co-author, with Carl Larson, of Collaborative Leadership: How Citizens and Civic Leaders Can Make a Difference (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994) and author of The Collaborative Leadership Fieldbook: A Guide for Citizens and Civic Leaders (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002).

Mr. Chrislip received his B.A. degree (1966) from Oklahoma State University in economics and history, an M.S. degree (1970) from Wichita State University in economics, and an M.P.A. degree (1982) from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.