fassforward

Chief Executive Officer

Head of Executive Coaching

Charpack LLC

Founder & CEO

Balance Yoga & Wellness LLC

Founder and Owner

New Mountain Capital

Head of Risk Management and Trading 2008-2010
Co-Portfolio Manager 2010-2014
Senior Advisor 2015-2017

Portfolio Management

Morgan Stanley

Executive Director

Marketing Business Analyst

I create Thinking Partnerships with leaders to improve performance

David is Co-CEO of fassforward Consulting Group. He partners with clients to improve their leadership, culture, productivity, and life/work balance. He leads fassforward's Executive Coaching practice, oversees finance and is focused on developing FCG’s biggest asset, its people and culture.

Prior to joining the fassforward, David spent 20 years on Wall Street. He worked at Morgan Stanley for 9 years in Institutional Equity Derivatives where he managed Hedge Fund Sales Trading. David was also a leader in the firm’s recruiting program, taught in the training program, and was a significant contributor in the growth of the firm’s derivative platform for hedge fund clients. In 2008, David joined New Mountain Capital to launch a risk management strategy and start a trading desk for the firm’s hedge fund with assets of approximately $1 billion. In 2010, he was promoted to Portfolio Manager, co-managing the hedge fund, which had grown to over $2 billion in assets. 
Through his work at fassforward, his yoga studio and his charity, David has enjoyed being focused on "doing good things for good people". David received his A.B., magna cum laude from Princeton University.

David Frost

Leadership Lessons from Amazon's #1 New Release "Story Business."

Gavin McMahon has distilled nearly 25 years of teaching leaders how to be better storytellers into a book.

When I joined fassforward after 20 years on Wall St, I thought storytelling was what we did with our children at bedtime. I questioned why we were focused on it.

Gavin helped me realize that leadership and storytelling are 2 sides of the same coin, and that you cannot be a effective leader without effective storytelling.

Here are 3 of the many leadership lessons from "Story Business": 
 
1️⃣ Tell the Truth (Beautifully)

Leadership storytelling starts with “truthtelling, not fabletelling.”

People don’t need a fairy tale (as per my old misconception), they need clarity they can act on. A leader’s job is to frame reality in a way people can understand, believe, and rally behind. "Speak to their listening."

2️⃣  Question the Future

Leaders don’t predict, they provoke. A good question pulls your colleagues forward, makes them imagine what could be, and creates permission for change.

And when you question the future, you’re not forecasting, you’re widening the path ahead so people can see new possibilities and choose to step into them.

3️⃣ Connect People and Dots

Connecting people and dots is the quiet superpower of successful leaders.

Your team carries fragments of the story; you weave them into shared context. When people see where they fit, they move with purpose.

🛒 Order Story Business: https://lnkd.in/ex5qeTFC 

#fassforward #thehowcompany #businessstorytelling #leadershipdevelopment

Elevate Packaging, Inc.

ELEVATE PACKAGING is a Leader in Circular Compostable Packaging systems, enabling companies of every size seeking Zero-Waste, plastic-free solutions to meet their sustainability goals and reduce their carbon footprint.

We make sustainability easy and simple.

Visit ElevatePackaging.com to find the widest range of compostable products (bags, pouches, labels, shipping supplies, food service supplies) shipped within 24 hours, with No Minimums!
Get fully custom and full color printed compostable solutions with speedy expert service.

Elevate enables your sustainability success with a frictionless on-ramp to sustainability leadership.
For 25 years, we're the #1 trusted expert and leading source for circular compostable packaging solutions for natural, organic, and sustainable brands.

President and Founder

US Composting Council

Collaborating with stakeholders to accelerate composting infrastructure.  Believing that compost manufacturing and compost utilization are central to creating healthy soils, clean air and water, a stable climate, and a sustainable society.

Founding Member, Corporate Compost Leadership Council 

UL Solutions

SaaS sustainability data management solutions for global businesses. Architected efficient and effective process workflows to manage and analyze sustainable business operations in centralized cloud database. UL purchased CR360 in 2016.

Senior Business Development Manager

Artelys

Fully responsible for all business functions, business development and strategy.  Developed growth within domestic and international markets and built new markets for KNITRO software, a world-class non-linear mathematical optimization algorithm for advanced optimization software programs. Ziena was purchased by Artelys.

Director

University of Illinois Chicago

Lectured on International Strategic Planning.  This program was focused toward professional in global organizations and was a joint collaboration with Bradley University.

Adjunct Instructor

Precision Software

Led teams at mid-sized client sites to customize, integrate and implement Global Trade Management Software within Client's ERP supply chain and logistics system.  Improved existing international supply chain processes to create seamless and efficient exports and imports for our global business clients.

Senior Project Manager

Loyola University Chicago

Lecturer on JAVA Programming to undergraduate students.

W.W. Grainger, Inc.

► International strategic planning (China and Latin American markets)
► Corporate strategy development with key executives of the company's business units
► Competitive research and analysis for C-level decision making
► Developed innovative technologies applications using emerging technologies  (mobile e-commerce network design, RFID, network architecture, genetic algorithms, neural networks).
► Managed concurrent projects and initiatives
► Business process design, documentation, and implementation
► Technology Innovation and Conceptual Modeling

Strategy and Business Development Manager

► Managed an application development team to support company's systems for this $50M business
► Re-organized technology group and a $1M+ technology budget to strategically retool business for next generation technology capabilities.
► Led team to design, implement and train IT department on ISO9000 quality processes to improve efficiencies.

Technology Manager, PCA

Northern Trust Bank

► Software Applications Programmer using COBOL, PL/1, JCL, IMS, VSAM, FOCUS Relational Database for CRM application.

Programmer

🌎 On a Mission to Eliminate 1 BILLION Pounds of Plastic Annually! 👉 Let’s connect today!

I'm dedicated to eliminating BILLIONS of pounds of plastic by making circular compostable packaging a reality for every brand.  We've made circular compostable packaging solutions easily accessible, and help brands get them effectively composted, powering sustainability impact to drive brand value and financial success.

With 25 years at the helm of Elevate Packaging, I have pioneered and led the charge in providing world leading, reliable, high-quality compostable packaging solutions for the leading sustainable brands.

Our mission is to make it easy for your business to seamlessly move beyond traditional plastics to circular compostable packaging, making sustainability an easy choice and a big win for your business.

Leveraging my deep expertise in strategy, technology, and business innovation, I've identified and developed market leading solutions to reduce packaging waste, introducing industry-first compostable products and enabling circular packaging systems.

As a speaker, investor, and a key contributor to sustainability councils, I strive to lead by example in both my professional and personal life and promoting a healthier planet for future generations.

Let's make a difference together!

Rich Cohen

This statement rings so true:
➡️“An economy built on plastic is an economy built on financial risk.”

The debate isn’t whether we CAN recycle disposable #plastics.
Decades of data show we have failed to date and still unable to recycle all plastics reliably at scale without incurring massive downstream costs.

Plastic is a liability.⚠️

Plastic drives expenses at every stage: waste management, contamination, EPR fees, regulatory risk, and long-term environmental harm. 
#Microplastics as a serious human health issue is likely the next significant costly liability for plastics.

👍🏽Compostable, circular materials turn waste into value.
🚫Plastic turns waste into cost.

The choice isn’t plastic vs. compostable.
It’s liability vs. circular value.

#businessstrategy #plasticpollution

Europe is fighting over cheap plastic imports when the real crisis sits at the heart of the material itself.

INEOS has warned that “time is running out” for Europe’s chemical industry. Brussels is drowning in anti-dumping cases. Politicians are scrambling to protect an industry crushed by high energy costs, collapsing demand and a wave of cheaper plastics from abroad.

Noise that masks a deep systemic failure. An economy that depends on plastic is an economy built on financial risk. 

Investors know this already. In 2025, the chemicals sector has become one of the most downgraded globally, with credit agencies flagging weak demand, overcapacity and collapsing margins. Ineos is just one example: its debt has swollen to nearly €12 billion, and ratings agencies have pushed it deeper into junk territory as bond values fall.

And the litigation risk hovering over the entire plastics value chain is only accelerating. Independent analysts project more than 20 billion dollars in plastic-related liabilities this decade, with no sign of the curve slowing.
 
So while we point fingers at “cheap imports”, the real story is a material whose economics no longer stack up. 
Plastic carries rising financial risk, rising legal exposure and rising harm to the people who bear its pollution. Almost 80 percent of the global population now live in areas where plastic waste has exceeded their waste management capacity.

We keep treating this as a trade problem. It feels more like a reality check. 

Maybe this is the moment to shift the conversation. Europe can protect its future by cutting its dependence on a material that drags down our health and our economy. Or we can keep giving in to Big Plastic’s propaganda that puts every one of our futures at risk.

This is a #funny image! 🤣 

But seriously, current #EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) frameworks are at risk of backfiring.
Many policies are being written through a recycling-centric lens, unintentionally penalizing compostable packaging, the very solutions designed to eliminate plastic and #microplastics at the source.

By failing to differentiate between circular compostable systems and conventional recycling, EPR regulations are slowing innovation and retarding the adoption of the next generation of truly sustainable materials.
This will soon prove shortsighted.
It's quite likely EPR as we know it today will be short-lived in its current form due these gross shortcomings.

Growing scientific evidence shows that microplastics are hazardous to human health, not just the planet.  As this becomes undeniable in just the next few years, the demand for compostable, plastic-free solutions will surge.

At Elevate Packaging, we’ve created an EPR-compliant pathway for compostable packaging, enabling producers and brands to even stay compliant today while preparing for a future that prioritizes human and planetary health.

If EPR is to succeed in its intended mission, it must evolve to include compostables as a recognized recovery pathway, rather than forcing all packaging into a recycling model.

The future of packaging isn’t recyclable plastic.
The future remains compostable, regenerative materials that safely return to the soil and restore balance to our ecosystems. 🌎

Business Development | Circularity Solutions | Sustainability Intrapreneur

While I try to be positive over the wave of EPR laws I keep seeing too many unintended consequences and a lack of focus on areas of impact.

First lets just say as I have elsewhere that the grocery store aisles should all look like the beverage aisle if we want  to promote recycling - standard materials and limiting colors to easily removable labels would make recycling more retail packaging easier. That is all great and EPR will nudge us in this direction - but that isn't what we need most today.

Plastic recycling is not feedstock limited it is demand limited. Making more formats easier to recycle is all well and good but those nice packages will still end up in landfill until there is a demand driver from brands to use it at a price point that makes economic sense for conversion. That is a bigger topic for another day.

The unintended consequences though are also disappointing. Recycling is a great end of life option for many products if not most products. Applying one size fits all fees though will drive counterproductive decisions to try and make products 'recyclable' in cases where a non-recyclable option may be better. We are pigeonholing all packaging into PET or HDPE (and a lesser degree PP) while demonizing flexible packaging and biodegradable solutions. Some products have a use case or food content that will always make them very unlikely to be recycled (looking at you coffee pods!). As long as the easier path to lower fees is to just stick everything in HDPE the market for any new or innovative material is dead.

RIP PHA we hardly got to know you, and any new materials making their way through academia and universities are dead on arrival. 

Am I being too negative or do new materials or compostable solutions have a realistic path to market in the face of 4-5X EPR fees and a non-recyclable label?

#plastics #sustainability #recycling #EPR

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The Battle

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Rich Cohen

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}David Frost's LinkedIn Performance

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