Gina Davis comes to Butler University after having spent most of the last two decades as principal of Mind’s Eye Company, LLC – an Indianapolis-based consulting entity that Gina founded to help design, fund, and implement innovative community, workforce, and economic
development initiatives in Indianapolis and Indiana. Gina began her work in Indianapolis, first, as part of doctoral research in urban policy, institutional analysis, and economics at Indiana University and as adjunct faculty in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana
University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Gina has been consistently engaged by local leaders – including the last two mayors of Indianapolis – to help frame creative, well-research
ed, community-driven solutions to shared, public challenges and opportunities. Her work
includes policy research and analysis, institutional design and governance, program design and evaluation, funds development, strategic planning, and project management.
In her role at Butler University, Gina is taking on the design, development, and implementation of Butler Advance – a new Butler initiative funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. that is intended to support economic development in Indianapolis and Indiana by increasing the number of Butler students who find and stay in high quality jobs in Indiana after graduating. Initially, Butler Advance will focus on strategic investments in and opportunities for students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, in order to help them better prepare for high quality careers in Indiana by connecting them with meaningful career development skills, integrated career and academic advising, and valuable experiential learning opportunities with private, nonprofit, and public businesses.
Gina, herself, has built a successful career on the foundation of her own liberal arts education. She received her Bachelor of Arts in journalism and Bachelor of Arts in political science from Indiana University and completed course work and research toward a Ph.D. in political science at Indiana University under the guidance of her mentor, the late Elinor Ostrom who received the Nobel Prize in Economic Science. Gina is the author of multiple articles, chapters, and white papers on community and workforce development as well as institutional design and analysis methodologies. She lives in Indianapolis with her three terrific children and her
fun, loving husband.