Dave Dawes is a nurse and a social entrepreneur. He is currently the lead for Nurse First which develops social innovators in health. He is also the founder of four social enterprises and is active nationally as a member of the Social Enterprise Coalition Council and a member of the Social Enterprise Investment Fund panel.

Prior to moving into the social enterprise world, he was an NHS Chief Executive and spent eight years in commissioning after leaving clinical practice as a nurse. He has helped a number of social enterprises emerge from the NHS as part of the Right to Request initiative and has particular expertise in helping social entrepreneurs raise investment funding and develop sustainable business models.