Sandra Davis is a courageous executive who knows how to influence powerful leaders. She is charming, persuasive, and savvy in the time-tested business practices of talent management, leadership development, and organizational change consulting. As founder of the firm, she has built a culture based on real-world experience, client intimacy, and customized solutions for leaders who demand real-world results.
Sandra’s success as an entrepreneur helps her identify with risk-taking leaders. After earning the role of vice president for assessment services at PDI, she, along with a partner, started MDA Leadership Consulting in 1981 and hasn’t looked back since. As CEO of the firm, she is widely known and respected as an executive coach and thought leader in the industry. Her client list spanning the past 23 years reads like the “who’s who” of top corporations headquartered in the Midwest and beyond. Her client work today involves strategic succession planning, leadership development, corporate and non-profit board development, and executive coaching.
In 2004, Sandra was selected as a “Women Change Maker” by The Business Journal. Other accomplishments include co-writing the book Reinventing Yourself: Life Planning After 50 and contributing numerous chapters and articles about leadership, succession and executive coaching to professional groups and leaders in general. She earned her B.S. from Iowa State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, working at the latter as a member of the faculty for four years. She also applies her leadership talents in the community. She currently serves on the board of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, she chairs the national Board of The Jeremiah Program, and is a Governor of the Iowa State University Foundation. Sandra is also a member of the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable.
Away from the office, Sandra is adventurous and musical. She enjoys skiing and hiking in Colorado, bicycling, and exploring diverse countries and cultures. She has expanded her horizons by volunteering on a project for teaching English in Vietnam and by running her first-ever marathon in Paris. She plays classical piano and is particularly fond of Brahms. In her earlier years, she sang a sultry female lead in musical theater productions and dance bands. Currently, she’s working on mastering her golf game and learning Chinese.
Favorite Work:
Helping boards navigate succession planning, and developing CEO candidates