President Avis Ford, Inc – Southfield, Michigan
Walter Douglas is president and majority stockholder of Avis Ford in Southfield, Michigan, one of the premier Ford dealerships in the nation. Mr. Douglas is the former president of New Detroit, the nation’s first urban coalition, where he earned an enviable reputation as a civic leader working closely with numerous governmental, foundation, business, labor and community leaders. Prior to that, he spent 13 years with the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C. and Detroit. In addition to his involvement at Avis Ford, Mr. Douglas is majority owner of a school bus transportation company, a cellular telephone license awardee, part owner of a beer distributorship, chairman of the board of an FM radio station group, and one of the original investors in the Motor City Casino, one of the three casinos licensed in the city of Detroit. Mr. Douglas is a former member of the civilian Board of Police Commissioners. He served for fourteen years as chairman of the Health Alliance Plan, the largest HMO in the state of Michigan. He is a trustee and Vice Chair of the Henry Ford Health System, a trustee of the Oakland University Foundation, the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, the North Carolina Central University Foundation, the Skillman Foundation (of which he is Chair), and the Tiger Woods Foundation. In February 2001, Mr. Douglas was named Chairman of the Board of Directors of AAA of Michigan. He and his wife, Retha, live in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and have three adult children.
