Vice President of Corporate Development, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago
Risa Davis joined United Way of Metropolitan Chicago (UWMC) in April of 2013 as the Vice President of Corporate Development. In this role, she is responsible for a team of Relationship Managers and other professionals who specialize in creating opportunities for corporations to engage in strategic community building, philanthropy and volunteerism. Under her leadership, United Way’s traditional workplace giving campaign is being strengthened with year round engagement and mutually beneficial community initiatives.
Risa utilizes her experiences in relationship building and new business development in this new role with the goal of deepening established relationships with the Chicagoland business community and creating new ones.
With a background in financial services, Risa most recently served as Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking, for Citibank. In her career there, she was successful in numerous roles including corporate account management, development and management of the small business banking team, managing the Community Relations Department , opening and managing new retail branches and managing Private Banking relationships with High Net Worth clients. While running local philanthropy at Citi, she created strategic community partnerships, led work that resulted in the highest possible Community Reinvestment Act ratings, and increased employee volunteerism to new heights.
Committed to community, Risa has served on the Board of Fifth City Preschool, the Housing Authority of Oak Park, IL and the Small Business Grants Committee of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She has twice served as the Steering Committee Chair for the United Negro College Fund’s Walk for Education and is a member of its Women Who Lead advocacy group. She has twice served as the Advisory Committee Chair for the Museum of Science and Industry’s Black Creativity Program, where she also served as Co-Chair of its African-American Outreach Task Force and a member of its Presidents Council.
Risa is the recipient of numerous awards including the Chicago Defender’s “Women of Excellence” Award, the King Legacy Award from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boys and Girls Club and the Exemplary Service Award from City Colleges of Chicago. She is a currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Business Development Center.
She received her B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University and her Masters of Management from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.