Martha Cook Davidson

Martha Cook Davidson oversees all fundraising, grant-seeking and development efforts at Foundations. She collaborates regularly with all departments to ensure that Foundations stays on course and has the resources to strengthen the field of education for America's students.

When Martha joined Foundations, she brought with her a gift for meeting tight deadlines, a will-do attitude and an impressive track record. Previously, as the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations for Saint Joseph's University, she spearheaded grant-seeking for a $40 million capital campaign. In other posts, she led successful development efforts at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, Princeton Friends Schools and Princeton Project 55, among others.

After graduating from Westminster Choir College with a degree in Music Education, Martha taught music to high school special education students. She later returned to Westminster to earn her master's degree and teach piano to undergraduates. While at Westminster, she sang with the Westminster Symphonic Choir and recorded with legends such as Leonard Bernstein and Ricardo Muti.

Martha served as Director of the Westminster Conservatory-the college's community music school division. She quickly grew the program from an enrollment of 350 students to more than 1,300. She then served as Coordinator of External Affairs and later as Vice President for Development at Westminster Choir College, overseeing alumni, public relations and development efforts, leading to the college's merger with Rider University.

Martha readily applies her development expertise to benefit Foundations' clients. She works closely with school leaders to help them set fundraising goals and turn big ideas into big dollars. She provides editorial support for outreach to funders and other key audiences. She also leads professional grant-writing workshops to help schools improve their chances of winning new funding.