Martha B. Davis

Martha Davis joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2014. Her work focuses on the root causes of violence, including child abuse and intimate partner violence. She seeks to address violence through her work in strengthening families to create nurturing, healthy environments that promote children’s positive development. As Martha puts it: “I am passionate about the opportunity to build a viable, community-based, cross-systems strategy to prevent violence and promote safe and peaceful relationships in families, neighborhoods, and all the places where people live, work, and play.”

RWJF benefits from Martha’s more than 23 years of experience in the area of family violence and child abuse prevention. She was the co-founder and executive director of the Institute for Safe Families (ISF), a Philadelphia non-profit organization. She developed innovative programming, guided ISF’s initiatives as an incubator for state-of-the-art ideas, and convened forums to promote dialogue and collaboration across systems.

Martha’s work at ISF included presenting and writing on family violence issues both nationally and locally. For more than 18 years, she also served as an adjunct faculty member of the Community College of Philadelphia, where she taught courses in behavioral health, including working with groups, developing helping skills, and family violence and trauma.

Martha holds an MSS from Bryn Mawr College School of Social Work and Research.

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