Clean Grids: Nick Davis ’04 Speaks at 111th Founder’s Day

On November 9th, Packer celebrated its 111th Founder’s Day. Each year, we acknowledge our founder Harriet Packer and the school she rebuilt. Not only did Mrs. Packer’s generosity provide a new literal foundation for the school, but she ensured a strong educational legacy for generations of students.

Each year on Founder’s Day we welcome an alumni speaker. After working for a decade in green energy, clean tech, and corporate sustainability, this year’s speaker Nick Davis ’04 founded GridMarket in 2015, where he currently serves as CEO (and employs a few other Packer alumni). The GridMarket platform, in Nick’s words, “is tasked with making every property in the world clean and resilient through deep data and Artificial Intelligence.”

During his visit, Nick chatted with students in an Upper School Atmospheric Science class, answering questions about how his business uses Artificial Intelligence and the evolution of the sustainable energy sector. He discussed trends in green energy adaptations with a Civics course, and answered questions on the necessity of both grassroots movements and government mandates. Nick described how his Packer experience prepared him to “stand toe to toe” with powerful people in the real world by giving him the confidence to “challenge authority, say what I believe, be analytical and respectful, and learn how to interact with both students and adults.”

In one of Packer’s oldest traditions, Nick delivered a lively Chapel address full of insights and advice for the soon-to-be graduates of Packer’s Upper School. He was introduced by Director of Alumni and former trustee Ronnette Hope ’07, who recalled the bond Packer created between the two as college students far from home. Their remarks are excerpted here.

“Packer was always adept at providing the space to step outside of the herd so you can evaluate if it’s the direction you want to or should run. [Packer] gave me the space to learn, to fail, to cause mischief. In these halls I learned to feel guilt for being mean and unconstructive. I learned to feel proud when kind or helpful. I learned to respectfully debate and challenge teachers and fellow students when we disagreed. When I wasn’t respectful, as sometimes happens when you’re young and wild, I was given the space to take stock and do better.

…There’s a flow state you should all be searching for. When your work, creative, or athletic powers flow so perfectly, in such a focused and magical fashion that you know at that very moment in time that there are few in the world, maybe in history, who are performing like you are performing. Packer is an incredible place to discover those superpowers. I was encouraged to dabble, stick with the dabble to see if I could get to flow. If you’re here, you’re blessed with that opportunity.”

“Nick is not here solely because of his success, Nick is here because of the embodiment of ‘Packer’ within. I went off to college, a pioneer, the only Packer student in my class to attend Northwestern. And I struggled, out of my element, unsettled, and Chicago is truly the second city. So, I reached out to my Alumni Director, Dona Laughlin P’04, and she remembered that there were two other Packer alums on campus that I should reach out to…I had coffee with them in our college student center, just because of our alma mater. Packer is a place but it’s also a community, a network, a foundation, a vibe. When I needed it, I was able to find a bit of it wherever I was, and always carry it with me… [Later] Nick and I would talk at reunions in the Blackburne, reconnecting over our shared connection to Packer, to Evanston, and in one of our conversations, he mentioned his ideas for his energy platform…”