Dave Zamansky

For more than 30 years, Dave Zamansky has been helping people discover the power of connection, leadership, and community. Blending humor, pop culture, creative activities, experiential learning, and a few unexpected props along the way, Dave creates experiences that get people out of their seats, talking to one another, thinking differently, and having fun while doing it. Whether he’s working with student leaders, professionals, teams, educators, or entire communities, Dave meets people where they are and inspires them to grow together.

Dave currently serves as the Director of Residential Education at Colby-Sawyer College, where leadership development and community building are part of his everyday work. His passion for leadership began as a Resident Assistant at the University of New Hampshire and deepened through his experiences with LeaderShape, where he discovered the transformational power of leading with integrity, building community, and embracing a healthy disregard for the impossible. More than three decades later, those experiences still shape the way Dave leads, teaches, and creates experiences for others.

Dave believes the strongest organizations and communities are built when people understand not only where they’re going, but also the people they’re going there with. His programs help participants connect with shared goals while better understanding one another’s strengths, perspectives, roles, and contributions. Through interaction, storytelling, reflection, and laughter, Dave gets people connecting, taking meaningful risks, embracing new perspectives, and discovering what’s possible when they work together.

When you book Dave, you’re getting more than a speaker. You’re getting a partner who genuinely cares about your people and your goals, collaborates with you behind the scenes, and creates an experience specifically for your audience. High-energy. Heart-centered. Hilarious. Dave makes “impossible” feel less like a wall and more like an invitation. And somehow, when Dave walks out of the room, it has more energy than when he walked in.

• A truly customized experience: No cookie-cutter presentations. Dave learns about your goals, audience, and culture, then builds an experience specifically for the people in the room.
• Authentic connection: Dave genuinely loves bringing people together, and audiences feel it. He creates an environment where people feel seen, valued, ready to participate, and challenged to grow.
• Energy that moves people: The energy isn’t just for show. Dave uses it to get people connecting, laughing, reflecting, embracing new perspectives, and taking meaningful risks.
• Leadership people can experience: Dave brings leadership to life through interaction, humor, storytelling, creativity, reflection, and experiential learning. Participants don’t just hear the message. They experience it.
• More than a speaker. A partner: Dave listens, asks questions, learns about your organization, and works with you to create an experience that connects directly to your goals and gives people something worth carrying with them when they leave.