LESLEY DAVIS

Executive Vice President

Lesley Davis was named the Executive Vice President of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy in January, 2021. Prior to this, she served as the Interim CEO & President for the Center since July, 2020. She was appointed to the Board of Directors in February, 2019. Her deep respect and appreciation for the fundamental freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution have fueled a lifelong interest in law, public policy, and political philosophy. 

She received her BA in political science with a minor in English from Mississippi State University, where she served as Executive Director of the College Republicans, President of the Pre-Law Society, Student Association Attorney General, and Campaign Director for Senator Trent Lott’s senatorial campaign on the MSU campus. She was a starting guard for the MSU Women’s Basketball team and was voted MSU’s Homecoming Queen.  

Lesley received her Juris Doctorate from The University of Baltimore, where she was President of the Christian Legal Society and Executive Director of the Republican Law Students.  She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Arlin M. Adams, United States Office of Independent Counsel in Washington D.C. (previously U.S. Court of Appeals judge for the Third Circuit) and was later hired as an OIC Associate Prosecuting Attorney. She continued her career as a partner in a well-respected Baltimore law firm, where she focused on toxic tort and medical malpractice defense litigation. 

Since returning home to Mississippi, Lesley has served on the Advisory Committee of the Mississippi Justice Institute, the Executive Committee of Bully Bloc,  the Board of Directors for the Cline Centers, the Board of Directors of the MSU Alumni Advisory, the Board of Directors of the MSU Shackouls Honors College, the Board of Directors of Delta Gamma— Jackson, the Young Life Executive Committee, the Jackson Preparatory Global Leadership Institute Board of Directors (currently the Board Chair), and a small group leader and large group teacher/speaker in women’s ministry at First Presbyterian Church Jackson, where she is a member. Lesley lives in Flowood with her husband, John, and their three sons: Jack (currently a student at Mississippi State), Charlie, and Will.