User:Johnwolfinden/sandbox/Alison Davis

Alison Davis (born October 27, 1961) is a board director, investor and advisor. Davis is a Board Director at public companies including Royal Bank of Scotland Fiserv Diamond Foods Unisys and Ooma. She was formerly a board director of public companies First Data City National Bank LECG and Xoom. She is an active angel investor and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Blockchain Capital Partners. She is an Advisor at Fifth Era and to Keiretsu Capital. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Early life and education
Davis was born in Sheffield, UK, the daughter of Jack Davis, a mining industry executive, and Joyce Davis. After five years in South Africa, the family returned to Hull,Yorkshire where Davis attended secondary school at Wolfreton School in Yorkshire, where she took acting and singing lessons. She was a frequent singer and guitar player in local pubs.

Intending to become an Economist Davis took Economics at Selwyn College,Cambridge University. At Cambridge, she acted in university plays, was a member of AIESEC, and volunteered as a prison visitor. While at Cambridge, she launched a furniture business making hat stands but this was not successful. Davis interned at PA Consulting in Cambridge, UK and was accepted, but did not join the UK Foreign Office.

Early Career
After graduating from Cambridge, Davis joined McKinsey & Company the management consultancy in their London office. The firm sponsored her to attend business school, and she was accepted into Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business. She decided to attend Harvard and entered as part of the class of 1986, receiving first year honors in 1987. On her marriage to superangel Matthew Le Merle in 1987, Davis transferred to Stanford Graduate School of Business where she graduated with her M.B.A in 1988.

in 1992, Davis was one of a number of McKinsey & Company consultants who joined AT Kearney to form a global financial institutions group. in 1994 half of this group spun off to form Mitchell Madison Group, however Davis remained as a partner at AT Kearney, and transferred to the firm's San Francisco office where she eventually became West Coast Practice leader and a member of the firm's North American leadership team. Davis left AT Kearney in 2001.

In 2001 Davis was appointed CFO and head of strategy at Barclays Global Investors. She worked with CEO Patricia C. Dunn on the rapid growth of BGI into the leader in Exchange traded funds, and was a management team member at the time of the launch of iShares.

After leaving BGI, Alison Davis became Managing Partner of Belvedere Capital Partners which was a private equity firm and bank holding company that was able to buy 100% positions in US banks as well as launch de novo banks.

Board Positions
Davis currently sits on the boards of directors of Fiserv, Royal Bank of Scotland, Diamond Foods, Unisys and Ooma. Previously she was a director of First Data, LECG, City National Bank and Xoom.

Women in Business
Davis sits on the non-profit board of Renaissance a non profit focused on Women owned businesses, and was formerly the Chairwomen of The Women's Initiative for Self Employment. Ms Davis frequently speaks on issues surrounding women in business and the difference between male and female leadership models

Ms Davis has been a leader of the National Conversation on Board Diversity which seeks for women to hold more than 20% of the directorship positions in US public companies before 2020 She is also a mentor to women in leadership roles in business

Honors
Alison Davis has been ranked one of the "Most Influential Women in Business" by the San Francisco Business Times in each of 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 In 2012 she was given the honor "forever influential"

Personal life
Alison Davis is married to superangel Matthew Le Merle and lives in Tiburon, California with her five children

References and External links

 * Fifth Era
 * Women in Leadership Video