Dave Wickstrom is a national leader in federal grants management, compliance, and program evaluation with more than 15 years of experience supporting federal, state, and nonprofit partners. He founded Dave Wickstrom Consulting, LLC in 2020 after serving at the Administration for Community Living (ACL), where he evaluated the effectiveness of more than 350 Centers for Independent Living representing over $90.8 million in federal funding and developed program guidance on topics including advocacy, resource development, conflict of interest, and the Client Assistance Program.
Since founding his firm, Dave has led high-impact projects including the California Emergency Rental Assistance Program (CA ERAP), where he directed a team that distributed nearly $5 billion in rental assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also delivered more than 850 federal grant management trainings to over 15,000 unique participants, including federal staff, state education leaders, and nonprofit executives. His expertise lies in translating complex federal requirements into practical systems that strengthen compliance and improve outcomes.
Dave is originally from Kentucky, where he is known as a disability advocate and distinguished himself in adaptive athletics. He partnered with the Kentucky Department of Education and the United States Paralympics to deliver professional development to teachers statewide and helped create the Central Kentucky Paralympic Sports Club, which became a direct pipeline into the Paralympic Training Program. He also founded Beep Baseball Kentucky, an adaptive game of baseball designed for people who have low to no vision, and in 2015 opened the world’s first baseball park for the blind in Frankfort, KY.
As Executive Director of the Alliance of Disability Advocates in Raleigh, Dave led a full rebrand, expanded services, and secured more than $1 million in new funding to increase community impact. He has also served as Chair of the North Carolina Mental Health Block Grant Council and as the veteran representative on the North Carolina Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Council.
