Wade Davis

Former NFL Player Wade Davis is a thought leader, public speaker, and writer on gender, race, and orientation equality. Wade is currently the Vice President of Inclusion Strategy for Product at Netflix and has consulted for companies including Google, Procter & Gamble, Viacom, and others to co-create transformative solutions to build inclusive corporate cultures. Additionally, Wade coaches senior leaders to adapt and flex their leadership styles to meet the needs and develop their employee population.

Wade is a Global Champion for Innovation for UN Women, and serves on the boards of MeToo International, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the MAD Foundation, Promundo, the Peace Studio, and Sparks + Honey. Wade is also a Global Champion for Girl Up, a program of the United Nations Foundation.

Wade’s work to engage, educate, and help men understand what actions to take toward gender equality has included partnerships with the Ms. Foundation and Ebony Magazine where he launched the #BlackMenAndFeminism campaign and with the Ms. Foundation For Women’s #MyFeminismIs campaign. Understanding the importance of engaging men around gender equity and equality, Wade built a ‘Men’s Gender Equality Development’ leadership program that launched with the United Nations in 2018.

Wade was the NFL’s first LGBT inclusion consultant and has consulted for numerous professional sports leagues on issues at the intersection of sexism, racism and homophobia. Wade created league-wide inclusive leadership strategies, led inclusion-training sessions for coaches and players, as well as built and launched national engagement initiatives.

In addition to his work in sports and corporate culture and leadership, Wade consults with entertainment industry leaders, including Fox, Viacom, and NBC. A frequent guest on podcasts and as a commentator for various news programs, Wade’s work in media has also included consulting on Oscar winner John Ridley’s series, American Crime, where he also filmed a co-star role.

A former national surrogate for President Obama, Wade has been an Adjunct Professor at both the NYU School of Professional Studies Tisch Institute for Sports Management, Media, and Business and the Rutgers University School of Public Affairs and Administration. Wade gave his first TEDx Talk at the University of Florida entitled: The Mask of Masculinity, and works to engage men through a variety of vehicles to become more self-reflective and divest in patriarchal practices. He continues to lecture on the intersections of race, sexuality, gender, and sports at universities nationally and internationally.

Davis was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and graduated from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from Northeastern University for his leadership and ongoing efforts to eradicate homophobia and sexism in athletics. He is currently at work on his first book.