In a business which is rarely known to women, a Black woman has managed to defy all the odds and is now the only Black woman to own and operate a banking institution in the United States.
Meet Kiko Davis, the majority owner and stockholder of Detroit-based First Independence Bank, one of the top 10 largest Black-owned banks in the United States. This makes her the only Black woman in the country who owns a bank.Kiko Davis
During a 2018 interview with Rolling Out, she said that what makes her unique as an African American female leader is her ability to genuinely connect with people and inspire a culture of synergy. “It’s a God-given talent that comes naturally,” she said. “People tend to lend the very best of themselves when they feel leaders are passionate about them and their environment.”
Kiko Davis is a major stockholder of the First Independence Bank as a trustee of the Donald Davis Living Trust, the tenth-largest African American-owned Bank in the country. In addition to running the Bank, Davis is also the founder and president of the Don Davis Legacy Foundation to immortalize the legacy of her husband, Donald Davis, and also works as the Managing Director of Groovesville Productions & Publishing L.L.C., which controls the rights of several Grammy Award-winning music catalogs.
She says that she is greatly inspired by Shirley Chisolm, the first Black congresswoman and the first major-party Black candidate to run for president in 1972. She says her favorite quote by Chisolm is, “In the end, anti-Black, anti-female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing: anti-humanism.”
Davis says she gained leadership skills by watching other Black women taking on senior roles and running their own organizations. “We have an innate warrior spirit. It makes us inherently effective at leading [and] at winning. Strength, courage, intelligence, and analytical ability are hallmarks of any great leader; however, a warrior spirit goes beyond just that,” explained Davis in an interview with Rolling Out.
She is also inspired by her late husband, Donald Davis. After his untimely death, she created a foundation in his name to perpetuate his legacy-building efforts and initiatives that he envisioned and developed.
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Davis says she gained leadership skills by watching other Black women taking on senior roles and running their own organizations. “We have an innate warrior spirit. It makes us inherently effective at leading [and] at winning. Strength, courage, intelligence, and analytical ability are hallmarks of any great leader; however, a warrior spirit goes beyond just that,” explained Davis in an interview with Rolling Out.
She is also inspired by her late husband, Donald Davis. After his untimely death, she created a foundation in his name to perpetuate his legacy-building efforts and initiatives that he envisioned and developed.
“We possess a level of empathy for people in general with a higher level of sensitivity towards women and minorities. Often times, it’s a skill set that unfortunately some men and non-minorities do not possess. They simply are socialized differently. I believe in order to lead people effectively you must be able to understand them, or at least want to”, she posited.
Kiko says that taking risks is very important if you want to become successful. “Without risk,” she says, “there can be no reward… Your mistakes will bring invaluable knowledge that will ultimately become your strategy for winning.”Kiko Davis
She also strongly believes in maintaining a positive attitude and attributes her success to prayer, eating healthy, and exercising.
Kiko Davis is also the managing director of Groonvesville Production and Publishing LLC; which controls the Grammy Award-winning music catalog of her late husband; Don Davis. He was an American record producer, songwriter, and guitarist who combined a career in music and one in banking.
