MEET KADY DAVIS!

Director of Development since October 2025

Kady wears a pink shirt, blue backpack, and sunglasses while hiking on a sunny mountainside covered with trees — *Kady hiking the Timberline Trail around Mt. Hood (photo courtesy of Kady).*

Hello! My name is Kady Davis and I am a recent transplant to the Madison community. I am so excited to be here and to meet more Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance members, volunteers, and supporters. I moved here from Portland, Oregon to join the team as the next development director and to be closer to my two kids’ grandparents, my wonderful in-laws.

I am originally from California, where I grew up exploring the creek, fishing with my dad, camping, and body surfing. I earned my bachelors at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and moved to Portland, Oregon in 2013 with the intention of applying to law school to study environmental law, but after interning with a development director at a local environmental law nonprofit, I knew I had found a career that I was passionate about. Instead of applying to law school, I pursued a Master of Public Administration with a specialization in Natural Resource Policy Administration while working in development and communications at the Forest Park Conservancy, a nonprofit dedicated to the protection and stewardship of Forest Park, the largest forested city park in the United States. Around that time I picked up birding and began working for Bird Alliance of Oregon where I supported their Development Program.

I truly believe that the environmental movement needs increased support and financial resources, and working alongside donors and volunteers to sustain critical conservation work brings me joy.

Why did you want to join the team at Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance?

*Kady with her two kids on the Oregon coast (photo courtesy of Kady).*

I first stopped into the Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance offices last summer when visiting my in-laws who live in Madison, just to see what another Bird Alliance office looked like. I was so impressed with SoWBA’s strategic focus on land conservation and national accreditation as a land trust; the expertise and warmth of the long-tenured staff; the free, high-impact programming provided by the education program; and the community support for the organization’s work (if you’re excited to support it too, you can donate here!). When I learned that a position on the development team was opening up, I knew I had to apply. In a whirlwind of events, my family moved to Madison a few months later and we are so happy we did.

What's your favorite bird?

The California Condor comes to mind first for me. Their impressive wingspan, cultural significance, and unique conservation story are endlessly interesting. I would be so honored to see one in the wild with my own eyes but it hasn’t happened yet! Watching them eat carrion at the Oregon Zoo was intense, to say the least. I am a sucker for a scavenger animal (wolverines and racoons are my favorite mammals). As for Wisconsin birds, I would be thrilled to see or hear a Common Loon here in the Midwest.