David Farren has served as executive director of the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation since 2013. The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation is a family foundation with a three-generation legacy in the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina . The Foundation is a leader and key collaborator in both regions, overseeing leading-edge programs in land conservation, artistic vitality, and cultural collections. Throughout his career, he has served on several nonprofit boards and government advisory commissions, and he currently serves on the board of the Biodiversity Funders Group.

For 20 years prior he worked with the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), where he led major legislative, litigation, and agency policy initiatives across six southeastern states. Before joining SELC, David was a partner with Tharrington, Smith & Hargrove in Raleigh, North Carolina. A native Midwesterner, he began his career at Jenner & Block, a national litigation firm based in Chicago. David attended Amherst College and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Cultural Anthropology. He holds a law degree from the University of North Carolina. David is a painter and an outdoor enthusiast.