Make-A-Wish America’s board of directors recently selected Richard Davis to serve as the organization’s CEO, effective Jan. 2, 2019.
Davis has more than 40 years of leadership experience, having most recently served at U.S. Bancorp as the company’s chairman and its president and CEO before that. Davis also sits on the boards of the National American Red Cross, Mayo Clinic, as well as many other well-known companies and nonprofit organizations, according to a press release.
“Richard is very much dedicated to the Make-A-Wish mission of creating life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses and we are excited to see him leading the organization forward,” Make-A-Wish Board of Directors Chairman David Clark said in the release. “He brings decades of experience leading large teams and organizations and we feel he is exactly the right person to lead us into the next chapter.”
Davis also has served on numerous not-for-profit boards for more than 30 years, including Goodwill, United Way, YMCA, the University of Minnesota Foundation and the University of San Diego. Additionally, he has held leadership roles on the boards of the Minnesota Orchestra, the Guthrie Theater and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and was awarded the Presidential Lifetime Volunteer Service award in 2007.
“I have always been inspired by the remarkable work of Make-A-Wish and the organization's ability to fulfill wishes for children undergoing treatment for critical illnesses,” Davis said. “I am very grateful for this opportunity to lead Make-A-Wish and to join the remarkable staff and countless volunteers who participate in granting a wish every 34 minutes of each day.”
This past spring, David Williams, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish America, announced his plans to depart the organization, effective Oct. 31, 2018, after 14 years helping drive the organization’s overall strategy and vision.