David Wilhelm is an American political leader and businessman. Mr. Wilhelm is best known for managing campaigns for President Bill Clinton, Senator Paul Simon, Senator Joe Biden and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.
As a former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Mr. Wilhelm was a 2008 super delegate to the Democratic National Convention. He supported Barack Obama’s candidacy and informally advised the Obama campaign.
A native of Appalachian Ohio (raised in Athens, Ohio), Mr. Wilhelm is a venture capitalist who focuses on spurring sustainable economic growth in areas that tend not to receive much investment.
-
Founder and President of Woodland Venture Management, a company that raises and invests private equity in parts of the country that are underserved by the nation’s financial industry. Woodland has become one of the nation’s leading sources of capital in the Midwest and central Appalachia. In that capacity, Mr. Wilhelm founded Adena Ventures, a venture capital fund targeting central Appalachia, which includes the southeastern Ohio area in which he was raised. Mr. Wilhelm is a partner and member of the fund’s investment committee.
-
Mr. Wilhelm also founded a second fund, Hopewell Ventures, which brings investment dollars to entrepreneurs in the nation’s heartland, specifically a seven-state region stretching from Ohio to Nebraska.
Mr. Wilhelm received his B.A. from Ohio University, as well as a Master of Public Policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of government. He has also received honorary doctorates from Ohio University and the University of Charleston. He is currently a Fellow at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs and has previously been a Fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics.
