Desirée Rogers
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Desirée Glapion Rogers (born June 16, 1959) is an American corporate executive, former
White House Social Secretary The White House social secretary is responsible for the planning, coordination, and execution of official social events at the White House, the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Function The social ...
for President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
's office and former
chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of
Johnson Publishing Company Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. (JPC) was an American publishing company founded in November 1942 by African-American businessman John H. Johnson. It was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. JPC was privately held and run by Johnson until his de ...
(JPC). As of 2019, Rogers is the CEO of Black Opal, a cosmetics company.


Early life and education

Rogers was born on June 16, 1959, in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
to late Roy Glapion and his wife Joyce. She is a descendant of Creole voodoo priestess
Marie Laveau Marie Catherine Laveau (September 10, 1801 – June 15, 1881)''Marie Laveau The Mysterious Voodoo Queen: A Study of Powerful Female Leadership in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans'' by Ina Johanna Fandrich was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of ...
. Rogers graduated from the Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans in 1977.The HistoryMakers bio
Retrieved on March 9, 2009.
She earned a
Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
from
Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...
in 1981 and got her
MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
from
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
in 1985.


Career


Prior to the White House

Rogers began her career with
AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
. Soon thereafter, she became an executive for restaurant and real estate develope
Larry Levy
In 1990, Rogers was appointed by Republican
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Jim Edgar James Robert Edgar (born July 22, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. A Moderate Republican (modern United States), moderate Republican Party (United States), Republican, he previously s ...
, to run the
Illinois State Lottery The Illinois State Lottery (known simply as the Illinois Lottery) is an American lottery for the U.S. state of Illinois, operated by Allwyn Illinois. Overview The Illinois Lottery began operations on July 1, 1974, when lotteries in the United ...
, a $2 billion state agency. She led the agency until 1997. During her tenure, Rogers worked extensively with over 8000 retailers to increase the sale of instant ticket products from 300 million to over 600 million. Rogers attended the
1992 Republican National Convention The 1992 Republican National Convention was held in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, from August 17 to August 20, 1992. The convention nominated President George H. W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle for reelection. It was Bush's fourth co ...
as an alternate delegate. In 1997, Rogers was the vice-president of corporate communications for
Peoples Energy Peoples Gas (short for The Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company) is a gas utility subsidiary of WEC Energy Group serving the city of Chicago, Illinois, and its northern suburbs. History Established in 1849, in Chicago, Illinois, The Peoples Ga ...
(PE), which is a natural gas subsidiary of the
WEC Energy Group WEC Energy Group is an American energy company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It provides electricity and natural gas to 4.4 million customers across four states. Subsidiaries Wisconsin * We Energies, the umbrella name for Wisconsin Electric ...
. In late 1999, Rogers and three other minority women quit the board of the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art to protest what they regarded as a slow pace on diversity issues. They were the only female minority members among the museum's 63 trustees. In September 2001, she became senior vice-president of PE and its utility subsidiaries. In 2002, Rogers attended the
Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...
Women and Power Program. In 2003 Rogers was named to the board of
Equity Residential Equity Residential is a United States–based publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in apartments. As of December 31, 2024, the company owned or had investments in 311 properties consisting of 84,249 apartment units in Southe ...
, a $15 billion residential
real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...
(REIT). In July 2004, Rogers was selected as president of both Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, the two utility subsidiaries of PE. She was the first female African-American to hold those posts. As PEs president, Rogers improved response times at the customer service center, converted paper records of inspection results to an electronic system, and eliminated a massive backlog of home gas meter inspections. In April 2006, the
Illinois Commerce Commission The Illinois Commerce Commission is a quasi-judicial tribunal that regulates public utility services in the U.S. state of Illinois. The mission of the ICC is "to pursue an appropriate balance between the interest of consumers and existing and em ...
launched an investigation to determine whether employees falsified safety reports on some of its gas pipes and found some discrepancies. Rogers determined the extent of the corrosion-testing problems, installed a new training and auditing regimen, and hired quality-control employees to check compliance work. No leaks were found. Peoples Energy was bought by
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
-based WPS Resources Corporation in July 2006. The merged companies became the
Integrys Energy Group Integrys Energy Group, Inc. was an American energy company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It was formed by the merger of WPS Resources Corp. and Peoples Energy Corp. on February 21, 2007. The chairman, President, and chief executive offi ...
in the first quarter of 2007. Rogers initially stayed on as President of Peoples Energy, the gas subsidiaries of the new holding company. In July 2008, Rogers joined Allstate Financial, a business unit of
The Allstate Corporation The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois (with a Northbrook, Illinois address) since 2022. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993, but was still par ...
, to run a new
social networking A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...
initiative of the company and later became a member of Allstate Financial's executive committee. Rogers is a board member of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, the Northwestern Memorial Foundation and The Polk Foundation. Rogers is vice-chairman of the
Lincoln Park Zoo Lincoln Park Zoo, also known as Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, is a zoo in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. The zoo was founded in 1868 and is the second oldest zoo in the United States. It is also one of a small number of zoos to offer fr ...
and serves on the executive committee of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. Previously, she served as the
Chairman of the Board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...
of the
Chicago Children's Museum The Chicago Children's Museum is located at Navy Pier in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1982 by The Junior League of Chicago who were responding to programming cutbacks in the Chicago Public Schools. Originally housed in two hall ...
. Rogers was a major contributor to fund-raisers to help Chicago win its bid to become a finalist for the
2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
, to which she donated more than
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
100,000. Roger's previous year's income, in a 2009 report, was a $350,000 salary from Allstate Financial, as well as $150,000 in board fees from Equity Residential, a real estate investment trust in which she also held at least $250,000 in stock. She also collected $20,000 in board fees from Blue Cross. Other assets reported in her checking account, stock investments, and mutual funds totaled at least $2 million.


At the White House

As the White House Social Secretary for President Obama, Rogers was responsible for executing the Obamas' vision of opening the White House to a wider circle of people and making it 'the people's house'. She organized 365 events in her tenure and was recognized for organizing lively get-togethers, particularly with artists and musicians. Rogers aspired to modernize the art collection in the White House Presidential mansion by adding ethnic art. She got recognition for her sense of fashion and style brought to the position.


2009 White House security breach

Rogers was in the center of the controversy surrounding Tareq and
Michaele Salahi Michaele Ann Schon (born Michaele Ann Holt; born October 1, 1965), formerly Michaele Salahi, is an American television personality and model. In 2010, she was a cast member on the reality show ''The Real Housewives of D.C.'' She and her then-hu ...
, where the couple was able to enter, uninvited, a November 2009
state dinner A state banquet is an official banquet hosted by the head of state in their official residence for another head of state, or sometimes head of government, and other guests. Usually as part of a state visit or diplomatic conference, it is held ...
hosted by President Obama in honor of
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...
. The
Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...
ultimately took the blame for the failure after Democratic-majority members of the
House Committee on Homeland Security The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include U.S. security legislation and oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. Role of the committ ...
voted against issuing Rogers a
subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
. According to ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', details of the dinner planning meeting between Rogers's office and Secret Service personnel are "being guarded by the
bama Bama or BAMA may refer to: Places * Bama, shortened form of Alabama, a state of the United States of America ** The University of Alabama, a public university serving the state, often known as simply ''Bama'' * Bama, one of the colloquial Burmes ...
administration as a virtual state secret."


After the White House

In February 2010, Rogers stepped down from her position at the White House. Rogers was replaced by Julianna Smoot, former chief of staff to the U.S. Trade Representative
Ron Kirk Ronald Kirk (born June 27, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Trade Representative from 2009 to 2013, as the 97th secretary of state of Texas, and as the 56th mayor of Dallas from 1995 to 2002. He is a me ...
. On August 10, 2010, Rogers was named CEO of the
Johnson Publishing Company Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. (JPC) was an American publishing company founded in November 1942 by African-American businessman John H. Johnson. It was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. JPC was privately held and run by Johnson until his de ...
, overseeing publication of ''
Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...
'' and '' Jet'' magazines, the Johnson Archives, and Fashion Fair Cosmetics. She left JPC in June 2017. Desirée served as the chair of the board of Choose Chicago from 2013 to 2019. In June 2019, she along with Cheryl Mayberry McKissack, acquired Black Opal Cosmetics, a 25-year-old cosmetics and skincare house for women of color. Desirée serves on the public boards of
MDC Partners MDC Partners Inc. is an advertising and marketing holding company based in New York City. MDC is structured as a partnership model, in which it initially acquires a majority stake in its partner agency, leaving a percentage of ownership with the ...
(MDC) and Inspired Entertainment (INSE). She also serves on the boards of World Business Chicago, Donors Choose and Northwestern Hospital. She is on the cabinet of the Conquer Cancer Foundation.


Memberships

*
American Gas Association The American Gas Association (AGA) is an American trade organization founded in 1918 representing and advocating on behalf of local energy companies which deliver natural gas throughout the United States. History The American Gas Association was ...
* Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization - Trustee *
Commercial Club of Chicago The Commercial Club of Chicago is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) social welfare organization founded in 1877 with a mission to promote the social and economic vitality of the metropolitan area of Chicago. History The Commercial Club was founded in 187 ...
*
Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the nam ...
- Trustee *The Chicago Network *
Young Presidents' Organization YPO (formerly Young Presidents' Organization) is a US-based organization of chief executives with more than 36,000 members in more than 142 countries. History YPO was founded in 1950 in Rochester, New York, by manufacturer Ray Hickok, who was ...
(YPO). *
WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). ...
(
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
affiliate) - Trustee


Personal life

In 1988, Rogers married John W. Rogers Jr. and moved to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, where she began her career. They have one daughter together, and the couple got divorced in 2000. Rogers is a former queen of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, a 1916-
Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ; also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being ...
krewe A krewe ( ) is a social organization that stages parades and/or balls for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations throughout ...
. Rogers is an
Obama family The family of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, is a prominent American family active in law, education, activism and politics. Obama's immediate family circle was the first family of the United States from 2009 to 2017 dur ...
friend. Her former husband, also Obama's Inaugural Co-chair, is a former teammate of
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...
's brother Craig Robinson on the
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
basketball team. Rogers is a survivor of
breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
, following a diagnosis in 2003.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Desiree 1959 births Living people 21st-century African-American businesspeople American women in business 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women politicians Academy of the Sacred Heart (New Orleans, Louisiana) alumni Harvard Business School alumni Louisiana Creole people Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni Louisiana Democrats Obama administration personnel Businesspeople from New Orleans Wellesley College alumni 21st-century American women civil servants