White graphic with a red undulating shape and text  NEW POETRY FOUNDATION BOARD CHAIR

Welcoming Gwendolyn Perry Davis to new role.

The Poetry Foundation is pleased to announce Gwendolyn Perry Davis as its new board chair. Perry Davis joined the board of trustees in 2021 and has served on its governance and strategic planning committees, helping to guide the adoption of the Foundation’s current strategic plan. When she assumes her new role in April 2024, she will be the organization’s first Black board chair.

“Gwendolyn’s vast professional knowledge and strategic vision will help the Poetry Foundation advance its mission with a focus on equity, care, and innovation,” said Poetry Foundation president and CEO, Michelle T. Boone. “As we continue our focus on grantmaking, I am confident that her years of leading financial development strategy and nonprofit stewardship will bolster our efforts to support poetry and the literary arts. I look forward to working with her and watching the Foundation flourish under her leadership.”

Perry Davis brings decades of experience leading cultural, educational, and philanthropic institutions. She currently serves as deputy director and COO at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago, one of the largest museums in the United States dedicated to contemporary art. She has oversight and direction for the care of the MCA’s 3,000+ permanent collection objects, strategic planning, people and culture resources and planning, 300,000 square feet of physical plant, earned revenue, and daily operations. Perry Davis is also leading the planning, design, and construction of a new MCA campus.

"I’m honored and excited to work with our extraordinary Poetry Foundation trustees on the Foundation's visionary goals and ensuring its ongoing fiscal sustainability,” said Perry Davis. “Since joining the board in 2021, Michelle and the Foundation’s leadership team have been partners in achieving important milestones, like the 110th anniversary of Poetry magazine."

Perry Davis joined the MCA in 2011. As the senior leadership team member, she led the C-suite in executing the MCA’s five-year strategic plan, NEXT (2022–2027). She also shapes and steers the museum’s leadership team vision and agenda, ensuring that executive leaders are aligned and empowered to reach the MCA’s strategic objectives. Prior to joining the MCA, she held various management positions at the University of Chicago, Marquette University, and the United Negro College Fund.

In addition to her service on the board of the Poetry Foundation, Perry Davis is a board member of Sarah Lawrence College and Journey to Lead. She is the recipient of multiple honors; she was named one of Chicago’s Top Black Women of Impact in 2018 and 2021 by Better Chicago, one of Crain’s Chicago Business’s 2021 Notable Black Leaders and Executives, and a 2022 Chicago Defender Women of Excellence. Perry Davis is a graduate of Butler University.

The Foundation thanks outgoing board chair Caren Yanis for her years of service and thoughtful leadership. Yanis joined the Foundation’s board in 2016 and led the Poetry Foundation through a period of immense transition, including the development and adoption of a strategic plan and grantmaking strategy. She also oversaw efforts that led to hiring the Foundation’s first Black president and CEO and Poetry magazine’s first Black editor in its more than 100 years of publication. During Yanis’s eight years of board service at the Poetry Foundation, she served as the executive committee chair and on the audit, finance, governance, and equity stewardship committees. The Poetry Foundation expresses gratitude for her guidance and wishes her the very best going forward. 

Trustees Cecilia Conrad and Kary McIlwain have also completed their terms as of April 2024. The Poetry Foundation thanks them for their years of dedication and service to advancing the Foundation’s mission.

Originally Published: April 9th, 2024