USA Volleyball President and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Davis will not renew his contract with the national governing body when it expires at the end of the year, culminating an eight-year run after being hired in 2017 as the first outside leader of the organization.
Davis will continue to oversee the organization through the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games in Paris and will serve as an executive consultant to assist the board of directors with the leadership transition and assist the board in the search for his successor.
Since Davis joined in 2017 as the seventh CEO in the organization’s history, USA Volleyball membership has grown to 425,000 and won three gold medals at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, including the first gold by the women’s indoor team ever. The beach volleyball pair of April Ross and Alix Klineman won gold in 2020 and the para volleyball national team won its second consecutive gold.
“My proudest achievement is, over the last eight years, being able to take a sport and watch it continue to grow and explode — through the most challenging times when we had Covid and all the other things as well, and to be able to get it to continue to grow to unprecedented heights,” Davis said Thursday to SportsTravel. “We’re at record membership. We’re at a very strong financial place and we’re doing really well competing on the international level. When you take all those three things together, I’m just really proud of everything we’ve accomplished during that period.”
Davis’ experience before USA Volleyball included founding his own company, Jomadrew Sports and Entertainment, LLC, after leading Fanatics, Inc., the online retailer. Earlier in his career, Davis served as president of the Versus television network, along with several roles within News Corporation including managing director of ESPN STAR Sports. His entry into television began with CBS Sports as its finance manager before joining the launch team of Fox Sports and serving as its vice president of finance.
“Jamie’s departure will surely create a void for USAV, as he has been instrumental in leading the enterprise to new heights and accomplishments during his seven-year tenure,” said USA Volleyball Board Chair Dave Gentile. “The Board appreciates all he has done for USA Volleyball and the sport of Volleyball. He clearly is leaving the organization in a much better position than when he arrived. For all he has done, the USA Volleyball Board is genuinely proud to have collaborated with Jamie these past seven years. We wish him only the best in his new ventures.”