JP Davis
Founder and CEO, JP Davis Partners
Lee Ann Weinberg, MBA, MSHA
President, JP Davis Partners
Riece Drew
Manager, External Relations, JP Davis Partners
JP Davis, Founder and CEO
JP Davis Partners
JP Davis is a visionary multi-preneur with a proven history of innovation and profound fundraising achievement. He is a strategist and fundraiser with over 20 years of experience in Kentucky and the nation with expertise in co-creating and co-leveraging strategic partnership for the benefit of the community.
He started JP Davis Partners in the winter of 2021 with the onePULSE Foundation as the inaugural client expanding to Waterfront Development’s Phase IV capital campaign in Louisville, Kentucky and the firm has grown to support more than twenty-five clients in the past two years with projects large and small.
Just prior to launching his own firm, JP served as Senior Vice President at Kentucky Fund for the Arts. He worked closely with the CEO & Board of Directors to create innovative strategies to drive new revenue. JP’s vision and leadership helped net the Fund for the Arts nearly $50 million, one of the largest gains in fundraising in the Fund’s 71-year history.
Securing $1 Billion at the University of Louisville
Prior to joining Fund for the Arts, JP directed major gifts & strategic initiatives in the Office of the President at the University of Louisville (U of L). JP was instrumental in the University’s $1 billion fundraising campaign, the largest campaign in the University’s history, where he worked closely with the President, VP of University Advancement, the Board of Trustees, and the Board of Overseers. JP secured a $40 million gift, the largest gift in school history.
Building a Foundation for Fundraising with Owsley Brown Frazier
JP’s love of fundraising began when he was hand selected early in his career to aid Louisville businessman and philanthropist, Owsley Brown Frazier, transition from corporate leader to national philanthropic leader. JP assisted Mr. Frazier with the creation of the Owsley Brown Frazier Family Foundation and coordinated efforts for tens of millions of community investment. Further, JP was his primary philanthropic liaison to the Frazier History Museum, founded by Owsley Brown Frazier. As a personal & executive assistant to Mr. Frazier, JP was his advisor for most philanthropic, political, & business interests.
Rooting his work in Appalachia
A native of Ashland, KY, JP moved to Louisville to pursue higher education, graduating with honors with a BA & MPA from U of L. He is actively involved in work in Eastern Kentucky through the Appalachian Big Ideas Festival, Appalachian Arts Alliance and in the creation of the Peggy Davis Scholarship to assist high school students in the Ashland area seeking a secondary education in business.
“We are proud to be one of the few gay-owned consulting firms in the non-profit and fund-development space. This is a unique role to occupy while the country is in a massive cultural shift in how we think and work and in who gets to be part of the conversation and change happening. I want people to see me and our firm as a place championing change, acceptance and a new way of approaching philanthropy that is rooted in equity, justice and new voices.” -JP
Interning at the White House
Following his time at U of L, JP worked as an intern in the George W. Bush White House where one of his infamous acts of service was getting reprimanded for mailing too many signed pictures of President Bush to his friends in Kentucky. He then studied at the London School of Economics and interned at Parliament. He retuned stateside to earn his Certificate in Fundraising Management from the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.
Engaging Locally and Nationally for a Better World
In his personal time, JP is civically engaged locally and nationally. JP ran for Louisville Metro Council, raising an unprecedented amount of support historically for a city council seat. Most recently, JP raised $200,000 to support Mayor Pete Buttigieg, America’s first openly gay Presidential candidate. He also served as Morgan McGarvey’s volunteer campaign fundraising chair in 2022.
Further, JP serves as a mentor to up and coming community leaders, ensuring they are given access and support to resources that are often gatekept. He is also a fierce LGBTQIA+ advocate, especially around creating communities that are accepting of young people so they may live openly, honestly and safely.
JP resides in the Highlands in Louisville, Kentucky with Dallas, his beloved labradoodle. He loves a good chili-cookoff festival and the occasional take out from Wendy’s and, of course, bourbon.
“We have the opportunity to work with so many strong leaders in our community and that’s my favorite part of consulting with clients. We are supposed to be the coaches and experts though every day I learn new ways of approaching a problem. We have the opportunity to co-create something new with visionary Executive Directors and staff members and seeing their commitment is motivating and inspiring. I am constantly exposed to new ideas and best practices and then able to build upon those to improve our non-profit ecosystem as a whole.” -Lee Ann
Lee Ann Weinberg, MBA, MSHA
President, JP Davis Partners
Lee Ann is many things, defined by all of them and by none of them at all, in a delicate balancing act - a mom to three young girls, recently recovered and in remission from Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
She received a bachelor’s of English at Birmingham-Southern College (BSC) in 2000 and an MBA and MSHA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2005 and 2006. At Birmingham-Southern, Lee Ann played collegiate tennis and was a two-time NAIA All-American and inducted into the BSC Hall of Fame for Women’s Tennis in 2005. In 2000, Lee Ann was the first ever recipient of the Athlete of the Year Award at BSC.
After time spent as an English teacher, tennis professional and hospital administrator, Lee Ann changed careers at age 36 from for-profit health care to non-profit Executive Director of Green Hill Therapy, a pediatric occupational and physical therapy clinic on a horse farm that uses hippotherapy (the movement of the horse) to treat children with developmental disabilities and special needs. Following four and a half years at Green Hill and securing the largest charitable gifts in the organization’s history, including major debt reduction and capital facility renovations, Lee Ann joined Volunteers of America (VOA) Mid-States as the Chief Development Officer.
Seven weeks into her tenure at VOA, Covid-19 emerged and dramatically altered the landscape of development, external relations, and fundraising. Lee Ann led the organization’s pivot to virtual events and community engagement, guiding the organization to a $250,000 virtual Power of 1 breakfast in October of 2020. After 13 months at VOA and at age 42, Lee Ann was, shockingly, diagnosed with Stage 3 Diffuse Large B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and is now in remission. She left VOA to address her health and along that journey re-connected with JP to join JP Davis Partners.
Lee Ann is the President of JP Davis Partners, leading the daily operations, strategic vision and client-centered deliverables.