Dawn Davis

Davis was born in Los Angeles, California to Leona Julia and Louis Davis. She earned a BA in international relations from Stanford University and spent two years studying at the investment bank First Boston in New York.[1] She then earned a scholarship for an independent study in Nigeria.[2]

Davis began her career in Wall Street and then transitioned to publishing in 1990 as an assistant to André Schiffrin of The New Press.[3] Davis was president and publisher of Simon & Schuster’s 37 INK, a publication for historically marginalized authors.[4][5] She had previously worked at HarperCollins, in their Amistad imprint.[6]

Davis is the founder of the Inkwell Book Club, a national online book club recognizing Black authors.[7] In 1999 she wrote If You Can Stand the Heat: Tales from Chefs and Restaurateurs.[8] She has edited authors including Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Susan Rice, Wil Haygood, Issa Rae, Kevin Hart and more.[9]

In 2020 she was hired by Bon Appetit to replace Adam Rapoport after his resignation due to allegations of institutional racism at the magazine were spurred by tweets from Tammie Teclemariam.[10][11][12] She is the third person of color to head one of Condé Nast's American publications.[13]

Davis edited Pulitzer Prize winner The Known World by Edward P. Jones, Steve Harvey’s book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Southern Cross the Dog by Bill Cheng, and The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner which was also developed as a movie produced by and starring Will Smith.[14][2] She edited the Recipe of Memory: Five Generations of Mexican Cuisine, written by Mary Lau Valle and Victor M. Valle; the book was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award and two Julia Child Cookbook Awards.[9][15]

In 2014 she was honored with Reginald Van Lee with the Visionary Award from the Metro Manhattan Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.[1] In 2019 she was honored with the Editor's Award by Poets & Writers.[16]