Being an advocate for diversity runs in Donna Alligood Johnson’s family. Her brother, a partner at an architectural firm, is heavily involved with diversity strategy at his company, and her sister is a member of her law firm’s diversity council.
This family passion for diversity wasn’t deliberate, Johnson says. “It’s interesting because none of us started out thinking we’d be involved in diversity in any form,” reflects the MasterCard chief diversity officer. (MasterCard Worldwide is No. 15 in The 2012 Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity.) The inspiration for all of them, she notes, is their father, Doug Alligood. He has a long history as a corporate diversity leader and currently is senior vice president on the diversity council at a leading marketing firm in New York.
Johnson recalls how her father would talk about what he did at work and how understanding consumers and their different attitudes could drive the bottom line.
