David Wolf (Law, MBA’01) 

2016 Kalpana Chawla Award Winner

David Wolff 2016 Kaplana Chawla Award WinnerIt didn’t take David Wolf long to start repaying the debt he felt to CU Boulder: In 2001, just after graduating with law and MBA degrees, he established a scholarship at the Leeds School of Business.

Supporting the university became a way of life. David has been an active member of the Leeds advisory board, spoken at CU conferences, on industry panels and in classes and judged competitions — while also mentoring and hiring numerous CU students along the way.

His service to CU makes sense for a businessman celebrated for his trailblazing contributions to the field of impact investing, which aims to align investors’ capital with their values and generate both profits and social or environmental benefits.

As chief operating officer and managing principal of BSW Wealth Partners, a multi-family office and wealth advisory firm with offices in Boulder and Denver, David oversees $800 million in assets. He also is founder and chief investment officer of R3 Returns, an impact investing fund that manages $85 million in social and environmental municipal bonds.

David nourishes others, and hopes they’ll pay it forward.

As he told one mentee:

“‘Twenty years from now, a student will likely be asking you for a reference letter. You will be busy; it will be late; you will be tired, and your spouse will be nagging you to go to bed. But you’ll remember…and you’ll stay up and get it done — chipping away at the debt you, and each one of us who lives a rich life, owes to those special people who help it along.’”