The average resident of Baton Rouge may have no idea the Baton Rouge Area Foundation has been the force behind some of the city’s most influential quality of life projects. From the Shaw Center for the Arts to the Red Stick Farmers Market, numerous initiatives that have added culture and new experiences for Baton Rougeans have been guided by the Foundation.
That most people who enjoy those projects don’t give the foundation much thought is exactly how President and CEO John G. Davies has wanted it.
In May, Davies announced his forthcoming retirement from the foundation, which he has led since 1988. Davies tells 225 he’ll remain on through the first quarter of 2022, during which time his successor will be identified.
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A number of significant community projects can trace their DNA to the foundation, including the revitalization of downtown Baton Rouge, the creation of the Water Campus, the ability to attract high-quality charter schools through New Schools for Baton Rouge and the establishment of the Bridge Center for Hope to serve those with mental illness. The preservation of the Bluebonnet Swamp, the recent restoration of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and the plan to restore the LSU and City Park lakes have all been engineered behind the scenes by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.
Since Davies took the helm, its assets have grown from $5 million to $722 million, largely through attracting local donors and piquing their personal passions. During Davies’ tenure, the foundation granted more than $550 million to local nonprofits and community projects, while also acting as a think tank for pushing big ideas and key social initiatives.
While Davies is retiring, he’ll remain as chair of its subsidiary Wilbur Marvin Foundation. In that role, he’ll work with Commercial Properties Real Estate Trust to complete the buildout of the 35-acre Water Campus, a research park dedicated to advancing science on how deltaic communities can live with rising seas.
What was it like when you arrived at the foundation in 1988?
The foundation had no negative baggage because not many people knew about it, but those who did admired it because it had done some pretty important work. We held high ground. We were not government, or the Chamber, or the United Way, or the Arts Council. Our role was, and is, to represent and support everybody in our community. We own that space. We need to ensure that the water rises for every single human being who is a resident of the area of the geography that we claim. No one else could say that. So we took that very seriously.
Engaging donors, and encouraging them to set up funds at the foundation, has been a big part of what you’ve accomplished. What’s that been like?
High-net-worth people start funds with us, and then we help them make great decisions about where they might invest those funds. We love that relationship. We have a donor give X-amount of dollars and say, “I want to give it to you unrestricted.” And we say, “No, we want it to be a donor-advised fund, because if you give us a million dollars and walk away, it’s a transaction. If you give us a million dollars in a donor-advised fund, it’s a relationship.” And we need the relationship because we want a cohort of people who really care deeply about our community, and who are willing to use not only their money but their influence to make us a better place.
What’s Baton Rouge’s greatest strength?
Access. This is a very open community, socially. It’s not closed. We constantly embrace new people. It’s part of our culture. It’s the personality that says “You’re welcome here.” You know, “Come and share my gumbo” sort of stuff. It’s this wonderful spirit, which is to be very open and affectionate to strangers. We live rich. And we laugh a lot. There are many parts of this country where people don’t have a sense of humor. I love the sense of humor, and I love the fact that we enjoy ourselves.
The foundation has used its influence to make a lot of things happen, but it still remains somewhat under the radar. How has that happened?
Early on, we decided one of our operating principles was always going to be to deflect credit. Because when I came, it was obvious to me that people were always claiming credit. There were a lot of groundbreakings, and very few ribbon cuttings. We decided we’d never do a groundbreaking, we’d only do ribbon cuttings, and even those would be muted and deflected in terms of credit. Because we felt that our work would have to stand on its own, and we weren’t about to go pound our own chest.
What will you be working on in retirement, as chair of the Wilbur Marvin Foundation?
The main thing is to finish the Water Campus. With COVID, we don’t know exactly what that means in terms of the need for office space, but so far, so good. There’s a lot of interest because it is not a normal office building downtown. It’s a place that’s focused on a very specific set of interests, and that is coastal, deltaic and cybersecurity, those are the three things that drive that campus. So it’s much easier than to aggregate people in one place because they share ideas and they share work and they collaborate together. I think we will be able to build it out in a reasonable amount of time, and I’d like to get it well over its tipping point. It’s developing nicely south of Water Street.
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In your work with the foundation, what are you most proud of?
I think it’s the mentoring that we’ve done here at the foundation with our teams of young brilliant people. Many have gone on to do extraordinary things elsewhere, and the fact that they retain the connectivity and affection for us because of that is just incredibly gratifying. That reflects a deep kind of cultural value that drives me. I think that’s what we need to be about, is helping next generations find their way to increase productivity and fulfillment.
Editor’s note: Davies’ answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.
This article was originally published in the December 2021 issue of 225 magazine.