David Guarino is the founder of Survivors Say and serves as President and Chair of the Board of Directors. David is a trusted strategic communications, political and business adviser to leaders, nonprofits, associations and corporations. David brings significant hands-on media relations and crisis management experience to Survivors Say, both as a longtime former newspaper reporter and a strategic communications adviser.

As a reporter, David covered high-profile events including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 1994 mass shootings at women’s health clinics and many other violent crimes and accidents that led him to interview and work with survivors, victims and families. As a communicator, David directed all communications for the state’s chief law enforcement official in the Office of the Attorney General for two years. He later worked with Boston Marathon bombing survivor Adrianne Haslet, families who lost loved ones in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and other high-profile incidents.

With the support of countless friends and allies and his colleagues from Melwood Global, the strategic communications firm he co-owns, David officially founded Survivors Say in 2021 and, since then, has worked with dozens of survivors and their families to have a say in if, when and how their stories are told.

David graduated from Northeastern University in Boston and lives in Salem, Massachusetts with his family.