Darwin Davis

Trailblazer Extrodinaire

Darwin Nathaniel Davis, Sr., retired senior vice president of AXA Financial (formerly Equitable Life Insurance), was born on April 10, 1932, in Flint, Michigan; his maternal grandfather managed General Motors Executive Garage, and his father, Abner Davis, became the first black postal clerk in Flint. After attending Clark Elementary School, Whittier Junior High School, and Flint Central High School, Davis played football at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (formerly Arkansas A&M University) where he earned his B.A. degree in business administration in 1954.

Snubbed by General Motors because of his race, Davis served in the United States Army from 1955 to 1957, tracking missiles at White Sands, New Mexico. Returning to college, Davis earned his M.Ed. degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, and then worked as a mathematics teacher at Duffield Elementary School and Jones Elementary School. One of the black salesmen Equitable Life Insurance hired in the wake of 1964’s Detroit race riot, Davis became a district manager by his third year. Between 1971 and 1974, Davis earned every type of managerial award Equitable offered. Promoted to vice president of manpower development in 1974, Davis served as the company’s first African American regional president in 1975. In 1989, Davis was promoted to senior vice president of Equitable Life Assurance Society and recognized by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the 25 most important African American executives. A mentor to many young African American executives, Davis retired as senior vice president of AXA Financial in 1998.

Davis served on the African American advisory board of Pepsi-Cola and the boards of the Albert Oliver Program, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, the Executive Leadership Foundation, the National Minority Golf Foundation, and the Jesse Owens Foundation. Davis also served as vice president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. Davis, a recipient of many awards and honorary degrees.

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Davis was named one of "the bravest generation" by Fortune magazine for being among the first black executives to fight their way to the top of corporate America. He worked his way up to senior vice president at AXA Financial, formerly Equitable Life Insurance, and retired in 1988 after 22 years at the company.

The Jackie Robinson Foundation presented him with its 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award.

"His story is record-breaking and astounding by any measurement," said the foundation, which was named after America's first black Major League Baseball player.

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In a 2003 profile written by Black Enterprise magazine, Davis said there has been systemic racial discrimination in America for centuries.

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"The mission of having black folks enter and participate in the best of America's offerings is unfinished business that will probably never be (completed) in our lifetime," he said.

Davis passed away on April 16, 2006 , and left behind a huge host of loving family members including his wife, Velmarie Davis (who passed in 2018); his mother, Marietta Davis Woodson (who passed in 2016); his sister Edith Bradley; his four children; ten grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, and godchildren.