David Whiteside became involved with Waterkeeper Alliance during the Summer of 1998, when he accepted a job from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., his godfather and the current President of Waterkeeper Alliance. David attended The Altamont School in Birmingham and graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in Environmental Studies. His senior thesis at UVM documented the process leading up to Waterkeeper Alliance's approval of several autonomous Alabama programs, including Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper and Hurricane Creekkeeper. David founded Black Warrior Riverkeeper in September 2001. Today, David serves on Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s Board of Directors. He was elected Vice President of the Board for 2009. Since joining the board in 2007, David has contributed thousands of volunteer hours towards fundraising, outreach, website updates, and event planning. In 2009, David founded Tennessee Riverkeeper (tennesseeriver.org) with environmental attorney Mark Martin. Tennessee Riverkeeper has an office near the Tennessee River in Decatur, Alabama, where David is Executive Director and Riverkeeper, and Mark is Prosecuting Attorney.

David Whiteside and Vivian Malone Jones in Tuscaloosa, Vivian Malone was the first African-American to enroll in the University of Alabama. She later became an attorney working for the E.P.A.