David Wise is Vice Chairman of Rewards, an ESG Partner and a member of North American Leadership. 

David advises Boards and executive teams on creating incentives that support their company’s values, mission and impact.  Leveraging over 20 years of client advisory and a background working on Capitol Hill as a sustainability advocate, David advises a number of prominent public and private boards and management teams ranging from Fortune 10 companies and private equity-backed portfolio companies to mission-driven not-for-profit organizations.

Prior to becoming Vice Chairman, David led Private Equity for North America, and was Head of Sales for the North American Advisory business. David is a recipient of Korn Ferry’s Founders Award, awarded for his impact with clients and for living Korn Ferry’s values and purpose.

David operates at the forefront of thought leadership around executive incentives and their impact on human behavior.  He was a contributing writer for the Harvard Business Review book How CEOs Can Fix Capitalism, and is a frequent speaker at corporate governance events and national conferences.  David is featured regularly in national newspapers, magazines and television outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, US News & World Report, Forbes, Bloomberg TV and CBS Evening News.

David holds an M.B.A in Management of Organizations from Columbia Business School, and a B.A. in Organizational Behavior and Management from Brown University, where graduated with honors. Before receiving his M.B.A, David worked on Capitol Hill as a political organizer, leading campaigns on issues ranging from the Clean Air Act to salmon protection.