DAVID MATTHEW

1. Are you from Western PA? No, I grew up in Arkansas and Texas. I met my wife while working in Washington, DC and we moved to Pittsburgh for graduate school shortly after we married. We moved away from the region in 2019 but decided to come back and make Pittsburgh our permanent home.

2. What do you love most about living here? I love the Pittsburgh attitude. Having lived in several cities here and abroad, I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. Pittsburgh is a place that understands success is not something to be taken for granted. People who are from Pittsburgh have obviously gone through economic and societal turbulence, so they seem to work just a little bit harder to create a better, fairer, more livable place.

3. Why did you choose the career you’re in today? I grew up in a small town in Texas. I went to college without a firm end goal in mind. I was very fortunate to fall into management consulting, which I seemed to have a knack for. While I am no longer a management consultant, as the Chief of Staff for a large wealth management firm, I play a similar internal role today.

4. What do you love most about your job? I’m fairly early in my career, but one of my take-aways so far is that the people you work for and the people you work with will have a huge impact on your happiness—probably much more than your role, prestige, perks, or income. I’m fortunate to work with some really wonderful colleagues, and my advice to students coming out of college is to choose people over other factors when making a
job decision.

5. What is your favorite TV show? Ted Lasso is my favorite TV show. It is laugh-out-loud funny, and Ted is one of the most endearing characters on television. Beyond that, the show offers a fairly in-depth exploration of fatherhood: good fathers, bad fathers, surrogate fathers, temporary fathers, you name it. As a father, I have learned some valuable lessons.

6. Why do you volunteer with United Way? I volunteer because I believe United Way is best positioned to understand where the biggest needs are in my community, and I feel fortunate that I can take part in helping provide solutions.

7. What is your favorite United Way memory? My first job after college was with United Way in Austin, TX. I worked on workplace giving campaigns. Being on the other side of the fence, I saw firsthand the resources United Way could marshal. United Way has incredible reach and an intense focus on connecting donors to causes. It’s the same in this region. I see the same sincerity and dedication among the staff of United Way of Southwestern PA and it is incredibly motivating.