Shelley Davis, MUPP

Shelley Davis is a seasoned leader in Chicago’s philanthropic and nonprofit sectors who has devoted her career to promoting a higher quality of life and equal opportunities for low-income communities.

Shelley’s work has included counseling domestic violence victims, advocating for nontraditional, high-wage construction work for women and evaluating and recommending multimillion dollar grants to nonprofit groups for policy advocacy, community organizing, violence prevention, health services and the arts.  As Vice President of Programs and Advocacy for the Chicago Foundation for Women, Shelley directed $6 million in grants for programs that focused on violence against women, access to health care and information and economic security. Shelley also led the Women’s Economic Security Campaign, a $1.5 million national initiative that advocated for improved jobs and childcare policies for low-income women and their families. She also has served as an advisor to the Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment where she raised more than $750,000 and launched a program to help low-income women in Chicago become entrepreneurs.

Currently Shelley is a Lecturer at The University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, where she focuses on the public policy impact of nonprofit and philanthropic organizations.  She recently was named as a Commissioner on the Cook County Commission on Human Rights and is a commissioner of the Illinois Commission on Juvenile Justice. Shelley is the chair of the board of the Hyde Park Suzuki Institute; and a director of the Albert Pick Jr. Fund.

Shelley is a native of Chicago and holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Lawrence University and a Master of Urban Planning and Policy from University of Illinois at Chicago.