David McBride

Lead strategic planning, policy development, and program implementation efforts across Washington State and beyond, serving clients in education, public infrastructure, tribal government, and nonprofit sectors. Manage teams of up to 12 staff across disciplines, projects, and geographies.

Select Leadership and Strategic Initiatives:

• Founder of Community Planning + Action: Designed and launched OAC’s equity-driven planning and engagement practice. Developed service offerings as a social enterprise, led business strategy, and positioned the firm as a trusted partner for capital visioning, policy, and long-range planning efforts.
• Chair, Inclusion Council: Lead company-wide equity and inclusion efforts, including DEIB policy development, strategic goal-setting, and implementation planning. Facilitate cross-functional initiatives to strengthen inclusive practices across operations and client-facing work.
• OSPI – School Construction Assistance Program (SCAP) Reform: Led a statewide planning study to develop recommendations for increasing access, improving efficiency, and advancing equity in school construction funding. Integrated stakeholder feedback, policy analysis, and scenario testing.
• WA Dept. of Commerce, PPCEP Pilot Program: Provided technical assistance to grassroots community-based organizations to build capacity, prepare for funding, and develop strategic project plans aligned with community priorities.
• Bremerton School District Bond Program: Directed $150M bond-funded capital program, overseeing facility planning, construction, community and stakeholder engagement, and tribal coordination.
• Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank: Guided strategic decision-making for a major facility expansion by facilitating programmatic prioritization and capacity analysis with staff and board leadership.
• Meta Reality Labs Capital Program: Led operational planning and capital project implementation across advanced R&D lab facilities. Aligned infrastructure planning with strategic business priorities, supported real estate optimization, and integrated process improvements.
• Tribal Partnerships (Puyallup, Shoalwater Bay, others): Supported feasibility and early planning for capital programs, balancing environmental constraints, cultural values, and long-term resilience.

Held leadership and technical roles aboard submarines and at naval shipyards, managing high-risk operations, safety systems, and large-scale infrastructure repairs. Applied lean principles and continuous improvement to enhance operational effectiveness, regulatory compliance, and workforce safety. Supported engineering planning, procedural development, and organizational learning in high-stakes environments.

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard – Silverdale, WA, Sail Systems Manager, and Lead Repair Activity Representative.

• Applied value stream analysis and lean methodologies to improve operational planning and execution for critical repair and overhaul projects.
• Supervised over 150 high-risk evolutions, managing technical teams, regulatory compliance, and safety planning.
• Oversaw hazardous energy control and work authorization for over 500,000 man-hours of repairs, maintaining near-perfect safety compliance.
• Developed recommendations to improve schedule efficiency on a critical-path repair project, reducing delays without additional costs or overtime.
• Recognized for driving operational improvement while maintaining strict adherence to nuclear safety and environmental protocols.

USS Key West – Pearl Harbor, HI, Assistant QA Program Manager, and Nuclear Propulsion Plant Supervisor.

• Directed quality assurance planning and execution during major modernization projects; achieved top performance ratings from three government inspections.
• Authored and implemented procedural updates that improved consistency and compliance across QA and engineering workflows.
• Supervised and mentored a team of six mechanical engineers, and coordinated more than 1,000 repair and overhaul tasks on nuclear propulsion systems.
• Led non-destructive testing and emergency welding repairs in high-risk, time-sensitive scenarios.