Congrats to Alden J. McDonald
New Orleans, LA (BlackNews.com) - New Orleans’ Alden J. McDonald, Jr. is one of two African Americans named to Fortune Magazine’s highly regarded “Portraits of Power” list for 2006. Fortune Magazine profiles some of the most powerful people in business for 2006 and their impact on the global market.
President and CEO of Liberty Bank and Trust Company since 1972, one of the five largest African-American owned financial institutions in the United States, McDonald is nationally recognized as a dynamic catalyst in the movement of minority businesses into the mainstream economy. As both a business leader and a community leader, he has devoted his life to community development through promoting entrepreneurship, supporting civic organizations and empowering businesses and individuals.
As chairman of the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, McDonald has helped lead the post-Katrina rebuilding effort by example: Liberty, the city’s largest black-owned bank, is enjoying its most profitable year ever, despite having lost half its branches as a result of the devastation caused to the Gulf Coast by hurricane Katrina.
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A graduate of the LSU School of Banking and of Columbia University’s Commercial Banking Management Program, Mr. McDonald began his career at International City Bank in New Orleans in 1996, rising to the position of Vice-President for Consumer Lending. In 1972, he left to take the reins of the newly formed Liberty Bank and Trust Company; as President and CEO since its inception, he is the longest-tenured African-American financial executive in the country.
As the first African-American owned commercial bank in Louisiana and now in Mississippi, Liberty was founded to provide economic opportunity to a community largely lacking in financial services and resources. Under Mr. McDonald’s stewardship, Liberty has grown to more than $350 million in assets, realized consistent profitability and national recognition and leadership. After six successful acquisitions, Liberty Bank now serves three cities in two states with thirteen branch offices as well as an insurance division, a national leasing company and a mortgage division.
McDonald has also served on the boards of numerous local, regional, and national institutions and agencies, including FannieMae, the American Bankers Association, the National Bankers Association, and the Louisiana Bankers Association. Mr. McDonald has also provided his business acumen and expertise to other industries, serving on many corporate boards including Stewart Enterprises, Inc. (STEI), Entergy New Orleans Advisory Board, Chairman of the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Lindy Boggs Medical Center, Minority Alliance Capital, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, and the Port Authority of New Orleans, just to name a few. (more…)
