David E. Kaplan is executive director of Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), the international association of investigative reporting organizations, with 155 member groups in 68 countries. He has worked as an investigative journalist for more than 30 years, reported from two dozen countries, and won or shared more than 25 awards. He has managed nonprofit newsrooms, investigative teams, and numerous cross-border projects. During the 1980s and early ‘90s, at the original Center for Investigative Reporting in San Francisco, he and his colleagues developed the model of a nonprofit investigative news enterprise.

In 2008, Kaplan became editorial director of the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), where he rebuilt CPI’s editorial structure and revitalized its data journalism unit. Kaplan also served as director of CPI’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). During his three years as ICIJ director, he tripled its funding, expanded its reach into 20 languages, and oversaw internationally acclaimed investigations into the tobacco, asbestos, fishing, and energy industries. Kaplan is a four-time winner of the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Award, including three medals, IRE’s highest honor. His work has also been honored four times by the Overseas Press Club.

Kaplan's books include YAKUZA: Japan's Criminal Underworld, and Fires of the Dragon, on the murder of journalist Henry Liu. He has worked in media development for 20 years and has trained more than a thousand reporters worldwide in his investigative journalism workshops.