Paula S. Davis leads the Communications and Corporate Affairs Search practice with Heidrick & Struggles, based in New York City. Her practice extends to roles in reputation management, employee communications and government affairs as well as sustainability, philanthropy, DE&I and marketing & brand communications. 

Paula works on senior assignments across industries and organizations ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to agencies, private equity owned companies and startups. She advises clients how to build effective, best in class corporate communications and corporate social responsibility functions and provides consulting services to companies in pursuit of transformation. In addition, Paula supports broader C-suite searches in the Automotive, Industrials and Consumer Packaged Goods Practices.

Before joining Heidrick & Struggles, Paula spent more than 30 years serving as a senior communications leader and general management executive for Fortune 500 companies and start-ups in different phases of business development, evolution and culture change. As a Corporate Affairs leader and former Chief of Staff to the CEO, Paula is known for building world class teams, strategies and partnerships that drove organizational, reputational and industry transformation and progress. Among her accomplishments, she successfully managed CEO transitions, corporate rebrands, culture transformations, significant global crises and shareholder activism campaigns, takeover scenarios and complex merger & acquisition integrations.  

Paula serves on the advisory board of Guild, a workforce development startup, as well as the Jed Foundation. She founded In Real Life Ventures focused on youth empowerment and serves on the board of directors of the REACH Institute and also American Corporate Partners. She is a Girl Scouts troop leader.

Paula holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She earned her BA from the University of Michigan with Psychology and English concentrations.