What’s a Network to a Tribe? The MDD Connections Founder is The Keynote Speaker of AACCNJ’s “Women Who Empower.”
By James Rashad | West Ward Beans
Marilyn D. Davis will tell you straight: she never set out to build a network, the goal was to build community.
“I sought to be in community with people,” she said. “Find my tribe. Find people who are like-minded, who are going the same direction.”
That distinction matters more than it sounds. Professionals collect business cards like receipts and call it relationship-building. Davis builds trust. And trust, as it turns out, has a longer shelf life than any LinkedIn connection.
Davis is the President and CEO of MDD Connections, LLC, a public affairs firm that specializes in government affairs, stakeholder engagement, and political consulting to connect people to policy and policy to power. She has worked on Capitol Hill, managed and consulted on major political campaigns, including President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection effort, and served as a senior executive at the Democratic National Committee, where she later ran for Secretary of the Party.
On May 14, 2026, she takes the stage at the Princeton Marriott Forrestal as the keynote speaker for the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey’s “Women Who Empower” Awards Luncheon, a celebration of leaders doing the kind of work that actually moves things forward.
She is ready. She is also, by her own admission, a little terrified.
“I don’t have a filter,” Davis laughed. “Whatever I say is gonna come from the heart and it’s gonna be authentic.”
“This annual gathering honors women who have made significant contributions in their respective industries and fields. Given Marilyn’s proven track record in public affairs and her successful strategies in mobilizing the Black Vote for Governor Mikie Sherrill and Lieutenant Governor Dale Caldwell, we welcome the opportunity to have her share her unique insights with our audience. This reflects our shared belief that engagement translates into empowerment,” said John E. Harmon, Sr., IOM, Founder, President & CEO, AACCNJ.
Dirt Roads to Boardrooms
Davis grew up in rural South Carolina. When speaking of home, her voice softens. She describes her upbringing as deeply communal—neighbors knew each other, churches anchored neighborhoods, and if one person in the community struggled, the whole community responded. Marilyn carries this foundation into every room.
When she moved to Washington, D.C. and started working on Capitol Hill, she carried the same instinct. Climbing the ladder was a byproduct of her excellence. She was there to find her people. She eventually transitioned to New Jersey with the same approach. The faces changed. The mission remained.
“As you build community, you don’t leave that network behind,” she said. “You carry those folk with you everywhere you go.”
That philosophy paid dividends in real, measurable ways. The morning of our conversation, a man she met in 1994 called her from D.C.—32 years after their first encounter—to offer her a job opportunity. He didn’t call to ask for anything. He called to give.
“That’s what a real, genuine relationship is about,” Davis said. “This is not a fast food line. This is a buffet dinner.”
People Make Policy. Relationships Move Power.
Davis runs MDD Connections on a clear philosophy: relationships move power and policy, and connection is everything. It’s an operating system she has stress-tested across some of the most demanding environments in American public life.
Her client work spans public education for housing authority residents, community engagement for political clients, and government affairs for labor organizations and corporations. In October 2025, she helped lead “Black Men Gather”—where she organized events across New Jersey that drew men across generations, faiths, socioeconomic backgrounds, and political affiliations into the same room for the same purpose—build community and engage civically.
“It was a beautiful sighting,” she said. “The diversity of men in the room coming together for the common purpose of being in community with each other.”
The Pivot
After leaving corporate America—where she hit the glass ceiling—Davis knew her worth and walked out. Transitioning to MDD Connections wasn’t seamless. Entrepreneurship required a full reset.
She enrolled in programs at Cornell, NASDAQ, and the New Jersey Small Business Development Center. She found a business mentor, read books and articles about entrepreneurship, and listened to podcasts. She treated building a business the way an athlete treats a sport—with coaching, film study, and daily reps.
“You have to feed yourself. Learning doesn’t end when you get the degree. It continues,” Davis said. “My background in workforce development taught me that we must commit to lifelong learning at all levels.”
With all of her experience and accomplishments, Davis is still seeking mentors.
For Davis, the entrepreneurial freedom she now has—setting her own schedule, deciding what kind of CEO work gets her full attention on a given day, watching something she built stay in the black less than two years in—that is empowerment in practice.
What She’ll Say on May 14
Davis was careful not to reveal too much. But she was clear about the room she’s walking into.
“The little Black girl in me who comes from a dirt road in South Carolina —to be at a place where I can keynote a room with some of the baddest entrepreneurs in New Jersey,” she said. “I am deeply, deeply grateful.”
Davis will undoubtedly see familiar faces at the luncheon—friends, contemporaries and mentors. She hasn’t revealed what she’ll say on stage, but when she steps foot into the room, 30-plus years of working inside institutions, navigating politics, building businesses, and choosing—over and over—to prioritize community over transaction follows in her shadow.
In a culture obsessed with the phrase, “your network is your net worth,” Davis keeps betting on something slower and stronger: community. The credentials matter. But the people you carry with you matter more.
The AACCNJ “Women Who Empower” Awards Luncheon takes place May 14, 2026, at the Princeton Marriott Forrestal in Princeton, N.J., from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Live musical entertainment by international soul singer and producer Showtyme Brooks. For registration information, visit aaccnj.com.
