Davis, 33, evolved into his current role as he tried to reconcile what he calls a "love of market dynamics" with an almost genetic understanding of the needs of people in the developing world. His grandfather was one of the first administrators in Southeast Asia for the Peace Corps.
Davis tried the corporate world following his undergraduate years, but his heart wasn't in it. "I understood my grandfather's wanting to do good in the world," he said. When he first learned about microlending -- and the reality that half the world's people have no access to affordable capital to help them start small enterprises -- he "was totally smitten with the concept of using business principles to help people."
With his own compass clear, Davis returned to school, earned a master's degree in public policy and developmental economics from Harvard Business School in 2001, and founded Unitus that same summer.
