Chairman of the Board

David N. Braxton deftly began the change process in 2002 when he was asked to serve on the National Board and facilitate a key project. His efforts led to the relocation of the national office from Los Angeles to Baltimore, fulfilling a long-standing goal of the SCDAA to promulgate its mission. David championed this transition, building and coalescing a Board project team around the multiple requirements. He leveraged the broad spectrum of member expertise in human resource management, executive recruitment, legal, medical and financial functions to execute the plan seamlessly, personally facilitating both the development of Los Angeles-staff severance packages as well as the President search to head the new Baltimore entity. His bold leadership enabled completion of this task within nine months. Since the opening of the new office in June of 2004, contributions to the SCDAA have increased by 50% as visibility on Capitol Hill has grown. Notably, the legislative agenda reached a major milestone last year, culminating in the passage of the Sickle Cell Treatment Act.

 Joining a local SCDAA Board in 1995, David was elected its Chairman within two years. Subsequently, he served as Third and First Vice Chairman of the National Board before stepping into his current engagement as Chairman in September of 2006. He brings over 23 years of leadership experience to this position from a wide-ranging career that spans achievements in the non-profit, corporate, military and small-business sectors. David delivered high-value results for major corporate brands—improving customer relationships, reengineering business processes, building sales and service infrastructures, cultivating strategic partnerships and integrating newest, relevant technologies, among other wins. Whether it was his first corporate management position at American Express in 1990 or his present consulting role as a senior executive with SunTrust Bank, David Braxton has always been able to “move the needle” and translate a vision into a tactical plan. He sees the good work that is accomplished every day to help Sickle Cell patients improve quality of life as part of a larger process to burnish the SCDAA’s reputation and reach the fundamental objectives of securing more research dollars, attracting donations, enlisting volunteers and, ultimately, finding a cure. 

Understanding the need to strike a balance between daily operational needs and larger imperatives of the business blueprint, David intends to capitalize on the Board’s many talents and bring corporate, legal, medical and local Sickle Cell organizational experience to the table. In prior executive commitments at American Express, GTE/ Verizon and Toys “R” Us, he incorporated accountability into each decision he made and asked his teams to embrace this concept. Accordingly, the plan for successful governance will focus on peer-to-peer feedback, clean audits, astute grant management, fair and equitable personnel policies and lobbying efforts that have integrity.

 Perhaps nowhere better, though, can we see David’s leadership imprint than in his capacity as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army. Recalled unexpectedly to serve in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2005, he distinguished himself as the Chief of Logistics Operations for the Office of Military Cooperation. David incisively analyzed and quickly turned around a major funding shortfall in procuring equipment for the Afghanistan National Army to ready their combat capability. Moreover, his strategic insight impacted earlier redeployment of U.S. soldiers, saved over $20 billion in containment costs and shaped future equipment-funding requirements that have become a cornerstone of military funding plans. David received a Bronze Star for his meritorious service in a combat zone.

 Born in Birmingham, Alabama, David Braxton grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and in the suburbs of Miami, Florida. He was educated at South Carolina University, receiving a BS in Business Administration while on an athletic scholarship for track and field. He later received an MBA from Fayetteville University while stationed in the Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and an Executive MBA from Wake Forest University when he was a Vice President at American Express. On his return from Afghanistan in 2005, he acquired an ownership interest in a small, commercial cleaning company in Florida. David currently works as a senior business consultant for SunTrust Bank at their corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, delivering sales and service solutions to their project stakeholders.