Jay Faison is one of the few philanthropists in the country dedicated to flooding.  While founding and leading Flood Defenders, he also serves as Chairman of the American Flood Coalition. In addition, he is the founder of ClearPath, whose mission is to develop and advance conservative policies that accelerate clean energy innovation.

Prior to founding ClearPath, Jay was the founder, CEO, and Chairman of SnapAV, the largest supplier in the custom audio video industry. SnapAV has been named to the prestigious INC 500/5000 List for four years running, designating it as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the US. The company’s explosive growth won Jay the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Southeast region.

In 2013 Jay sold SnapAV in order to pursue his passion for philanthropy.

Jay graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in economics, and received a masters degree from the Darden School of Business at University of Virginia.

“My family comes from Eastern NC - a relatively poor area that was brought to its knees by flooding caused by Hurricane Florence. It's hard to see the aftermath of one of these floods and not want to take action. To my knowledge there is no group that is building a grassroots movement to push for better flood protection. I believe that our government should do a better job protecting its citizens from flooding."