Wikiake

About

Elena Davis, née Elena Statheros (June 7, 1966–) is an American philanthropist, homeless advocate, and fashion model. She founded I Am Waters, the first organization to deliver bottled water with words of inspiration to America’s homeless and I Am Brands, a wholly owned subsidiary of I Am Waters, which sold water with 100% of net proceeds supporting I Am Waters.

Career

Elena Davis settled in Los Angeles after a childhood of constant moving, she had attended 12 schools in 12 years. Shortly after, she was scouted by Eileen Ford’s Ford Modeling Agency. She moved to Paris at 16 years old, booking jobs with couturiers such as Chanel, Valentino, and Armani and magazines such as L’Officiel, Harper’s Bazaar, and Cosmopolitan.

Her modeling career moved her to New York City and then to Los Angeles, where she met her future husband, Gregg Davis, oilman and heir to the Marvin Davis fortune.

In 2009, Elena founded the I Am Waters Foundation, a Houston-based non-profit, which was the first charitable organization to deliver clean drinking water to America’s homeless population. Each bottle featured a word of inspiration: Love, Hope, Peace, and Dream. I Am Waters was founded with the mission to provide “Physical and Spiritual” hydration to America’s homeless. In their first summer of water delivery, I Am Waters delivered 80,000 recyclable bottles of water. That first summer 54% of participating shelter partner staff reported an attitude shift in their clients after receiving the water. By 2011, I Am Waters delivered 3.5 million free bottles of water to its shelter partners across the country.

Elena Davis created “I Am Brands” to sell bottled water with 100 percent of the net proceeds going back to the nonprofit for continued delivery of free water to the shelterless. The bottles were sold at Whole Foods Market, H.E.B, and Timewise Food Stores.

I Am Waters hosted an annual luncheon featuring supermodels of the 90s such as Elle MacPherson, Jerry Hall, Kim Alexis, and Kelly Emberg.

In 2016 I Am Waters conducted a study in partnership with UCLA and the University of Texas Health Science Center that evaluated the impact of I Am Water’s program on the homeless individuals who received it.

The study evaluated the water needs of the domestic homeless. The study found that 72% of homeless respondents were thirsty all or most of the time and that 100% of homeless service providers acknowledged dehydration as a problem for homeless individuals. Additionally, the study showed that 47% of respondents showed elevated levels of self-esteem after reading and spending time with the word (Love, Peace, Dream, and Hope) on the bottle