About Muddy Boots

My best advice was to wear Muddy Boots. Go into the field and ask two questions.1. How are you/we doing ? 2. What could we do better ? Then be quiet and listen and act on the information. The people closest to the work generally know the most about the work. Find their pain and fix it.

Your will never need to be low price because you will always be low cost.

About Me.

I am a semi-retired individual with a passion to answer the call to service. As you can read below in my bio,I have had a number of different work experiences and volunteer opportunities. All gave me experience and what I have come to call scar tissue. What I have learned is that scar tissue is often the best teacher. Experience counts, but so does curiosity and the knowledge that each day brings a new approach, a new technology, a new experience. The challenge is how we combine experience with openness to change. To learn that "to go fast, go alone, but to go far, go together."

My north star is that we have an obligation to put Grandchildren over greed, All Grandchildren.

And never sit on the sidelines.

It is the man or woman in the Arena that counts.

It is never too late to get in the Arena.

Muddy Boot's Posts

525,600 Minutes

I recently attended a production of Rent. A powerful show and well done by the Bucks County Playhouse in New Home. One song invokes 525,600 minutes, the number of minutes in a year. The lyrics and the math got me thinking about time as a perishable commodity. When I was 21, I thought 73 was forever away. That changed when family and friends passed away too early. When our children had children of their own. When you bring home a puppy, and you realize it’s your third dog and

Beach Thoughts

My grandchildren remind me that time moves with astonishing speed. Just yesterday, their parents were building sandcastles, playing in the waves, and falling asleep with sunburned noses. In this season of family vacation, we try to take a week at the shore together every year; I find a growing awareness that grandchildren mark the passing of the generational torch. It also reminds me that retirement does not mean you stop working. Working just gets redefined. We both find joy

Muddy Boots July 4th Reflection

A Muddy Boots reflection on freedom, responsibility, and the work still before us July 4 is a day for flags, families, parades, fireworks, and gratitude. It is also a day for memory. The promise of this country has never been a finished product. It has always been an assignment. The American experiment rests on an idea that is both simple and demanding: human beings have dignity, government has limits, law matters, and freedom carries responsibility. The Constitution is not a

Midterms'

A reminder that midterms are coming. “We shall fight on the beaches,” he said. “[W]e shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Winston Churchill. The constitution is the law. The separation of powers is real. And the current crisis in leadership is real. The rule of law and the duty to defend the constitution and serve the people, all people, is the core requirement for any elec

Reunion

I spent the weekend attending my 50th college reunion, along with 94 other members of the Kenyon College class of 1976. I had the fun of being on the reunion committee, working with a solid college reunion team and some classmates I got to know much better over the 18 months of planning. Observations: 1. While the campus has changed much in the past fifty years, buildings, offerings, technology: the vibe of the place remains in tack. Specifically, the tone of the academic an

So you want to join a board:

I was recently asked to give a presentation on best practices in board governance, with a focus on non-profits. It is a subject I have written about in Muddy Boots before, so you can review the blocking and tackling in prior posts. The best question I got was “how do you select a board member,” and the converse is “why join a board.” It starts with being clear about expectations. 1. Are you aligned with the mission? 2. Are you prepared to work, not just in a board m

Sacred Space

I have attended church on Sundays for about 34 years as a practice. It started when I began my sobriety journey as a way to hold myself accountable, and over the years, it has evolved into a commitment to the tradition of service, self-reflection, community, and the exploration of a higher power built around a congregation seeking similar answers to the big questions raised in the gospel and life. There is power in a sacred space, regardless of your tradition. Comfort in the

The back nine....or back four.

This is the longest time I have gone without posting on Muddy Boots. The last being 12/26/2025. It has been 28 months since I stepped down from ECS, 12 months since stepping down from the Drexel board, the Academy, and several for-profit and non-profit boards. For the first time since I was twenty-three and could argue fourteen, I was not on a 40-60-hour workweek schedule or personally responsible for employees, customers, or an I-95 commute. Jacqui is clear that 47 years in,

Governance Thoughts

I have been thinking about Governance a lot of late. Not just for the companies I work with as a board member for profit and non, nor just for my own company, Modern Group, Ltd. Rather, I have been thinking about the connection between good governance, impact, stakeholders, and best practices as a director or Chair. First, good governance at the fundamental level is the same for the public and private, for-profit, and non-profit sectors—my observations and scar tissue. ·

Advent 2025

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etal, and a Happy New Year. Jacqui and I hope you and your family are safe and that the year ahead is full of promise and opportunity. In this season of light, may we all bring some to those in need with our time, our treasure, and our talent. May we do so not just in this season but year-round, as the needs are tremendous and a hand up does so much more than a hand out. To quote from my ECS days," to go fast go alone, but

Professional Biography

Dave Griffith is an independent senior advisor to the Delaware Valley Family Business Center (DVFBC) and a 5-mountain guide and coach to clients.

He most recently served as the Executive Director and Head Coach of Episcopal Community Services of the Diocese of PA. He currently serves as Executive Director Emeritus. www.ecsphilly.org

He is currently the Executive Chairman of Modern Group Ltd of Bristol, PA; Chairman of Garman Builders of Lititz, PA; Lead Director of Verus LLC of Princeton, N.J.; Chairman of Laminators Inc of Hatfield, PA; Chairman of D’Angelo Brothers Inc of Philadelphia; Chairman of Oliver Fire Protection & Security of KOP, PA; Chairman Advance Scale of Lindenwold, NJ and Director of Mid-Atlantic Employers Association. He is also a trustee of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. He is an advisor to the Journal of Social Innovation, Fairmount Ventures,, Learning Without Scars.

He is also a director of Ride to Work, Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, Emeritus Trustee of ANS, Chair of the Franklin Society with the Bucks County Herald Foundation, Trustee and Chair of Corinth 13, advisory board member of the Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute, Trustee of Moore College Board of Managers, and a fellow of the Westminster School. He is a member of the Solebury Police Pension Board. He is a member of MHEDA, (Material Handling Equipment Dealers Association), and a past or current member of ARA (American Rental Association), AED (Associated Equipment Dealers), NAW (National Association of Wholesalers), YPO (Young Presidents Organization), WPO (World Presidents Organization), and the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities. He is Chair of the McEwen Family Scholarship Trust and the Griffith Family Foundation.

Before ECS, he served as President and CEO of The Modern Group LTD. Prior to Modern, he was an executive at IBM, ROLM, and MCI. He has served as Board Chairman of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University and as a trustee of Drexel University. He is a former trustee and officer at The Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut, and a former director or Chair of the JJ Haines Company, Hoober Inc., Mountain Laurel Spirits LLC, Delaware Valley Floral Group, Keim Lumber, Crazy Aarons Putty World, PA Biotechnology Center, NAWIDE, Leadership Inc. Philadelphia, Victory Farm, the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, World Café Live, and the Economy League. He also served as an advisor to IBM, Caliper, and Diemlife. Additionally, he served as a senior warden at Trinity Episcopal Church and as president of MHEDA.

Along with his wife, Jacqueline Griffith, they are supporters and advocates for the work of Fisherman’s Mark, Foundation Academies, Children’s First, Bryn Mawr School of Social Work, Corinth 13, The Bucks County Herald, Bowman’s Wildflower Preserve, The Academy of Natural Sciences, Barnard, Kenyon, Moore College, and Episcopal Community Services. He and his brothers established and maintain the Griffith Family Scholarship at Westminster.

He is a nationally recognized speaker and author on Leadership, Governance, Poverty in America, Community Engagement, and Family Business. Dave is a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Non-Profit Leadership program and has spoken at Harvard, Temple, Kenyon, Drexel, Rutgers, and many trade associations and corporations. He is the author of the Muddy Boots Blog, www.themuddybootsblog.com, and a guest columnist at the Philadelphia Business Journal. He is the recipient of the 2026 Kenyon Humanitarian Service Award.

He is a graduate of Kenyon College ’76 and The Westminster School '72. At Kenyon, he received his B.A. with honors in Economics and History. While at Kenyon, he played DIII Soccer and Lacrosse, volunteered with the local Fire Department, served as an EMT and on the fire line, and worked as a resident advisor. He is also a member of the Lambda chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon, the Lookaway Golf Club, the Balsam Lake Club, the Yale Club, and Trinity Episcopal Church. He is a life member of Trout Unlimited.

He and his wife of forty-seven years, Jacqui, have two married adult children, one grandson, one granddaughter, and one active Westie. Dave is an avid fly fisher, fly tier, and outdoorsman. All things being equal, he would rather be on the waters of Beaverkill.

Theodore Roosevelt’s "The Man in the Arena" best captures his philosophy of life and Muddy Boots... “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Updated 8/29/2026

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