David Tovar

Dave Tovar is the Chief Corporate Relations Officer for McDonald’s USA. In this role, he leads strategic internal and external communications efforts to support responsible business growth. This work includes responsibility of franchisee, executive and employee communications; large-scale public relations campaigns; proactive reputation-building efforts and issues management; and strategic oversight and integration of government relations outreach and engagement, environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies and corporate giving and volunteerism.

Dave is also the Executive Sponsor for the MA2C African American Council, an employee business network that promotes an inclusive work environment, fosters relationships, supports career development and helps grow the business.

Dave prides himself on building and maintaining strong, diverse and inclusive teams that are thoughtful, creative and effective in how they contribute to the realization of business goals.

Prior to McDonald’s, Dave served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications for Sprint. He joined Sprint in 2015 after eight years serving numerous communications roles at Walmart, including leading global communications. At Walmart, he strategically directed and oversaw communications teams responsible for crisis and issues management, executive communications, public relations, global e-commerce, digital and social media, financial and legal matters, and corporate social responsibility work.

Before Walmart, Dave was Director of Corporate and Government Affairs for Kraft Foods, Inc. There, he led a team that managed all corporate and government affairs activities for Kraft’s North American snacks, cereals, cheese, dairy and beverage sectors, including media relations, crisis communications, federal and state government affairs, public relations and issues management.

Dave joined Kraft Foods from Altria Corporate Services, Inc., where he served as District Director of State Government Affairs. In this position, he was responsible for developing and executing the political, legislative and regulatory agenda at the state and local levels in California, Hawaii and Alaska on behalf of Altria, Philip Morris USA and Kraft Foods.

Dave graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He is a member of the Arthur Page Society and the Public Relations Society of America. He also serves on the board of advisors for the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center for Public Relations and the dean’s leadership council for the University of South Carolina’s College of Information and Communications.

Dave also served on the board of directors for a variety of civic and philanthropic organizations including the 1Million Project, a non-profit organization helping one million high school students achieve their full potential by ensuring they have the internet connectivity they need to succeed in school, the Kansas City Area Development Council, the Blue Valley Educational Foundation and the First Tee of Northwest Arkansas.