David Coronado is a Senior Program Officer with The Lemelson Foundation. He works to support student growth by promoting equal access to invention education, STEM coursework, and out-of-school learning in K-12 schools.

Before joining The Lemelson Foundation, David spent over a decade as executive director of the Oregon MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement) program at Portland State University. He managed all aspects of Oregon MESA’s work to help students from underserved communities gain access to STEM and invention education. During his tenure at Portland State University, he also served as a diversity and equity leader for the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science by designing courses and programs aimed at retaining women, BIPOC and low-income students. 

Nationally, he served as the President of the MESA USA organization and brought invention education as an approach that has now been integrated across the MESA program nationally. David serves as the Chair of the national STEM Funders Network.