Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise (CSGE)

Heather Davis is the President and the Chief Investment Officer of TIAA Private Investments for the TIAA organization (www.tiaa.com). Ms. Davis is responsible for strategy, investment originations, portfolio management and board reporting for the organization’s private and alternative investments.
Ms. Davis has held a number of leadership roles at TIAA, notably overseeing the growth of the firm’s global private markets investments which include private placements, private equity, distressed investments, commercial mortgages, natural resources and infrastructure investments. Ms. Davis joined the organization in 1995 and has 32 years of investment industry experience.

Prior to joining TIAA, Ms. Davis worked for Prudential Financial in a variety of roles including commercial mortgage origination, mortgage underwriting, portfolio management, and credit underwriting. In 2009, Ms. Davis created TIAA’s Fruits of Employment initiative, which employs people with autism and other disabilities on TIAA farms. The program has won numerous awards for its groundbreaking work in autism employment in the farming sector. In 2014, Ms. Davis received the Athena International award for Corporate Leadership. Ms. Davis serves on the boards of Westchester Global Investment Management, Churchill Asset Management, the John M. Belk Endowment and the Carolinas Chapter of Autism Speaks.

Ms. Davis holds a B.A. in economics from Cornell University and an M.B.A. in finance from Cornell University, Johnson School of Management. She serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.