Cameron Davis, J.D.

Cameron Davis is a vice president at GEI Consultants, where he leads resilience efforts, especially for coastal, green infrastructure, climate adaptation, and water resources.

Additionally, in 2018, Cam was elected as commissioner at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, after what was one the most unusual races in Illinois history, where he ran as a write-in candidate, beating the previous statewide write-in record set by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944. He won re-election in 2020.

From 2009 until 2017, he was President Obama’s Great Lakes “czar,” coordinating the work of 11 federal departments and serving as the Administration’s liaison to Capitol Hill in investing more than $2 billion under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. He also led the federal effort to block Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes through the Chicago River. He was a lead negotiator with the U.S. State Department on the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. He also helped write and pass the Great Lakes Legacy Act, which leverages funding partnerships to restore harbor, port, river, and other critical coastal areas.

Mr. Davis brings several skill sets to assist GEI clients: Governmental and legislative affairs; stakeholder engagement to keep projects on track and on budget; navigating regulatory and agency landscapes, particularly with complex contaminated sediment and water resource matters; media and communications advice; and other relevant capabilities.

Cam is also an author (The Better Part of Valor and Confluence: Genoir of an American Family) and small-scale farmer, developing resilient food systems.

Thought Leadership

How the new Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program can help you

Can You Benefit from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program?

Understanding how funding decisions are made can improve your chance of BRIC funding

How you can get ahead of the BRIC timeline

Where does BRIC funding go?

Adapting to climate change: Why “retreat” when you can advance?

The Protection of the Great Lakes Began More Than 50 Years Ago – That History Matters Today for Funding Important Projects. But Why?

How Toxic Hotspots Were Identified, Money Arrived, and a Network Was Born

Great Lakes Restoration Funding: Know and Share Your Goals to Get Results

Will Politics Stand in the Way of Continued Project Funding for Great Lakes Restoration?

What Will Canada’s Yet-to-be-Named Restoration Program Mean for Great Lakes Project Funding?

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative – Where We’ve Been Guides Where We’re Headed Part 1 (From Skepticism to Success)

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative – Where We’ve Been Guides Where We’re Headed Part 2 (From Strategy to Success)

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative – Where We’ve Been Guides Where We’re Headed Part 3 (From Steadfastness to Success)