Elijah E. Davis is a research officer at the Nowak Metro Finance Lab, where he focuses on small business finance, place-based economic development, development finance, and public procurement. He joins the Lab as a community economic development leader and practitioner, previously serving as program director of Urban Impact, Inc., a community economic development nonprofit based in the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument District and Fourth Avenue Historic District. In addition to co-leading the organizational refresh of a legacy nonprofit, he developed, led and managed a new portfolio of programs including COVID-19 business support, community-based microlending, small business capacity-building programs, community planning, and placemaking initiatives that resulted in new levels of corporate philanthropic and public investment for the organization. Previous to his role at Urban Impact, he worked as an analyst in business advisory services, assisting small-to-midsize firms.

For his work in Birmingham, Alabama, he was awarded Top 40 Under 40 by the Birmingham Business Journal in 2022. Building off his local work in Birmingham, Elijah continues his advocacy nationally in neighborhood economic development, and in recognition of his work, he was named a Next City Vanguard in 2023. Elijah earned a B.S. in Economics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.