John Grady Davies is President of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves the capital area of Louisiana.
His time at the foundation has produced important initiatives for the improvement of the Baton Rouge area, including Plan Baton Rouge. Plan Baton Rouge is a partnership between the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, the City of Baton Rouge, and the State of Louisiana that generated a master plan for the city. Plan Baton Rouge has attracted more than $400 million in capital investment and has been chosen as a model for development partnerships between private and public entities.
Prior to joining the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Mr. Davies was director of college relations at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina. He was responsible for the management of admissions, alumni affairs, church relations, development, public information, and the college press. He increased enrollment by 50% and doubled the amount of capital gifts, annual giving, and endowments to the college.
He is a founder of the Consensus Organizing Institute, a national consulting agency that develops community organizing plans based on the consensus model, and is founding director of Community Foundations of America. He serves as Director of the Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce and the Shaw Center for the Arts. Davies also holds the positions of officer, director, and chair of the admissions committee for Research Park Corporation and serves as board chair at the Wilbur Marvin Foundation.
Mr. Davies is the son of an American diplomat and grew up in Lima, Peru. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1972.
The Baton Rouge Area Foundation was founded in 1964 as a community foundation with a commitment to the improvement of the community. Over the years, the Foundation has earned the distinction of being the premier resource for philanthropists, nonprofit organizations and community leaders in the area. The Foundation serves the eight parishes in South Central Louisiana, which make up the greater Baton Rouge area.