Marie Davis — Executive director of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Metro St. Louis/Greater Missouri Chapter.

Family — Husband, Robert Davis, died in August of complications from pneumonia. Children: Tanya Kuntz, married to Ken Kuntz, and lives in St. Louis; Kimberly Davis, single and physically disabled, lives in Sunset Hills with her mother; Tiffany Davis, single and lives in St. Louis. Two grandchildren: Brianna Kuntz, 12; Ashley Kuntz, 10. Marie is the younger of two daughters born to Clarence and Noma Jones, both deceased.

Education — Greenville High School in Greenville, Mo., class valedictorian, 1966. Davis has taken college classes but did not complete college. Her most recent educational effort was an 18-month class in nonprofit management from Columbia College. She has taught college, however. Davis has been an adjunct professor in entrepreneurship at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, University of Missouri-Columbia and the University of Missouri Extension program.

How did you manage to teach college without a degree? — I taught for nine years. I had a lot of experience in entrepreneurship, and I was a woman who had owned my own business — successfully — which is what they were looking for.

What sort of business did you own? — When my children were young, and particularly since one of them was physically disabled, I stayed at home for 12 years. But even during that time, I was busy. I was on the board of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and I ran their telethon. I was busy in Girl Scouts and I did church work and I was a room mother in the schools. I went back into the work force in the mid-'80s, and I started out as a minority owner in an advertising business. Then I became a majority owner. After that, we created a shared-office space company, and then we became consultants.

When did you start working for nonprofit organizations? — In the late '90s I became executive director of Support Dogs. I was their board president, and I realized that the group would not stay alive unless someone gave them a business model to work with.

Did your interest in that have to do with dogs? — No, not at all. I just knew I could help them develop a business model, and the organization performs a useful function, so I wanted to help them stay alive.

What did you do after that? — At the time I was also on the board of Combined Health Appeal, which is now part of the United Way. JDRF was funded by Combined Health, and I found out they were looking for an executive director. I came to work here on Oct. 1, 1997.

What made you choose JDRF? — It is about families, and I care about families. I liked its mission and the fact that there is the possibility of a cure for the disease. And personally, I liked that it's a national organization, so I knew I would not have to start everything at ground zero. There was already a playbook.

What's happened with the agency in the 12 years you've been here? — This chapter has grown dramatically. When I took over, we were getting annual donations of about $300,000. We get about $3 million now. We have gone from a volunteer-driven organization to a professional organization. We also get one of the highest efficiency ratings of any not-for-profit — our rating last time was 83.5 percent, which means we use that much of the money we get to help find a cure for diabetes.

What do you like to do outside of work? — My family does what we call drive-by vacations. Since we don't know ahead of time about accessibility at many places, and since my daughter is in a wheelchair, accessibility is very important. So about 15 years ago, we started our drive-by vacations. We go to a place and, depending on the situation, sometimes we just take pictures and go on to our next destination. We have done 44 states so far.

Any hobbies? — Reading. I love to read. One of my favorite books is "Ashes in the Wind," by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. I've read it about five times. I really like to read autobiographies and biographies. The last, best one I read was "Living History," the Hillary Clinton autobiography.

And you drive? — You mean what do I drive mostly or what do I own? I own a 1987 Mazda RX-7 with a rotary engine. It's red, of course. But what I really drive is a 1997 converted van with a wheelchair lift. It's a Ford. And if I had a choice, I probably would drive a Lexus.