MEET JOE
Joe Davis is an award-winning author and speaker on a mission to bring generosity to leadership. He spent 1987 to 2025 at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he served as a Managing Director and Senior Partner. Joe led BCG North America and founded its Center for Inclusion and Equity.
After working in BCG’s Boston and Australia offices, Joe co-founded BCG’s Washington, DC, office in 1996 and took over its leadership in 2006. While leading the Washington, DC, office, he became the firm’s first Northeast System Leader. In 2008, Joe launched BCG’s US public sector practice, where he worked with Sheila Bair and the FDIC during the peak of the banking crisis. In 2011, Joe was recognized as one of Consulting Magazine’s Top 25 Consultants for excellence in the public sector.
In 2013, Joe moved to San Francisco to lead BCG’s West Coast System. While on the West Coast, he was instrumental in founding BCG Digital Ventures. Joe also served as the BCG Executive Sponsor and Vice Chairman of B Capital Group, working with founders Eduardo Severin and Raj Ganguly. During this time, his team worked with Bay Area leaders to bring Super Bowl 50 to San Francisco in 2016–an experience Joe reflected on in his 2013 Ted Talk.
In his book, The Generous Leader, Joe offers a seven-part guide to heartfelt and collaborative actions that transform the reader into a generous leader.
Joe earned a BA in Economics from Whitman College—where he now serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees—and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Joe has been married to his wife, Sarah, for over four decades. They have four wonderful children and eight grandchildren.
Throughout his career, Joe has led with a collaborative approach, a commitment to equity, and a track record of delivering results that shape both organizations and communities.
Videos
ABOUT JOE DAVIS
Joe Davis is a Managing Director and Senior Partner at the Boston Consulting Group. He is a former Head of BCG in North America and member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He oversaw BCG’s operations in the US, Canada and Mexico and was recognized as one of the Top 25 Consultants of the year in 2011.
In The Generous Leader Joe tells a story about a performance review from early in his career: to summarize, he was told he is not the best at problem solving in a vacuum, but in collaboration with others, can solve any challenge, make change happen. Why? Because early in Joe’s career this mentor identified his key strength—Joe was a person who could connect with anyone.
This ability to connect with people became the foundation of a successful career at Boston Consulting Group, spanning more than 35 years, across multiple offices around the world, opening and growing offices, starting businesses, and helping to grow the firm. For more than three decades, Joe’s passion for people and his desire to support their development, inspired teams to work harder and better than they thought possible, creating exceptional collaborative results for BCG and its clients.
Accomplishments
- Head of BCG North America
- Vice Chair of B Capital Group
- Chair of BCG’s Center for Inclusion and Equity
- Graduate of Whitman College
- Chair of the Board of Trustees of Whitman College
- MBA from Harvard Business School
- BCG Senior Advisor
In keeping with his constant commitment to champion people and their dreams, Joe currently serves as Chair of BCG’s Center for Inclusion and Equity. He is a co-founding Steering Committee member of CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion and the Southern Communities Initiative.
Joe is a graduate of Whitman College and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees. Joe previously served as Vice Chair of B Capital Group. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
![Joe, Sarah, four children [Nashville - 2022]](https://www.joedavis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Joe-Sarah-four-children-Nashville-2022-e1698693643169-800x602.jpg)
![Four children [Sadie graduation]](https://www.joedavis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Four-children-Sadie-graduation-e1698651121369-800x639.jpg)
![7 GRANDCHILDREN [2023]](https://www.joedavis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/7-GRANDCHILDREN-2023-e1698651085290-800x493.jpg)
![John Legend, Joe Davis, Jim Lowry, Justin Dean [ELC Gala 2017]](https://www.joedavis.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/112.jpg)
Joe has benefited from the generosity of a loving family: Sarah, his wife of more than 40 years, whom he met at Whitman College, his four children and their partners, and seven grandchildren. When he is not traveling the world for work or to be with family, you can find Joe running or gardening as his moving meditation.