David O. Egner
President & CEO
Hudson-Webber Foundation
 
Keynote Speaker
 
David Egner has led the Hudson-Webber Foundation as its President & CEO since 1997. Established in 1943 with major contributions from Mr. and Mrs. Richard H. Webber, other members of the Webber family, and The J.L. Hudson Company, the foundation has assets of $146 million and concentrates its efforts and resources on its mission of improving the quality of life in metropolitan Detroit.

Recently, Egner led an effort that enhanced the focus of the Hudson-Webber Foundation’s work and giving to include 15x15, a shared vision to attract 15,000 young, talented households to Greater Downtown Detroit by 2015. The foundation works in the targeted geography of Greater Downtown Detroit to assist in making it the kind of place that young talent wants to be. 15x15 is a focused extension of the foundation’s historical giving to the Woodward Corridor.

In addition to his work with the foundation, Egner also serves as executive director of the New Economy Initiative (NEI), a $100 million philanthropic partnership dedicated to accelerate the transition of southeast Michigan to a more innovation-based economy. Under Egner’s leadership the New Economy Initiative has targeted grantmaking to promoting a successful entrepreneurial eco-system, capitalizing on existing regional assets and resources, and building and employing a more skilled and educated workforce

Egner has more than 20 years experience working with nonprofits and foundations, from his early years as an executive assistant to the chairman at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek to guiding the Michigan Nonprofit Association, a Lansing-based coalition, through its development and mergers.

He serves on the boards of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, the Council of Michigan Foundations, Inc., among many others and is Chairman of the Michigan Future board of directors and leadership council. Egner is a graduate of Leadership Detroit Class XIX and chaired the Leadership Detroit Trustees from 2009 to 2010. In 2006, Egner was appointed by Governor Granholm as a member of the Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs and in 2009 he was named one of Crain’s Newsmakers of the Year for his work with both the Hudson-Webber Foundation and NEI.

Egner has an M.B.A. from Western Michigan University and a bachelors degree from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. He resides with his wife Tammy and their four children in metro Detroit.