Alexis Herman-1st A. A. Secretary of Labor

Alexis Margaret Herman is an American politician who served as the 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor, serving under President Bill Clinton. Prior to her appointment, she was Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.  Alexis grew up in a Catholic home in Mobile and earned her high school diploma in 1965 from the Heart of Mary High School. She briefly attended Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, and Spring Hill College in Mobile, but transferred to Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, where she became an active member of the Gamma Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 1969. Herman was Queen of Carnival for the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association (Mobile's African-American Mardi Gras umbrella organization) in 1974. In 1981, Herman founded her own consulting firm - A.M. Herman & Associates. After Bill Clinton's victory in the 1992 Presidential election, Herman became deputy director of the Presidential Transition Office. During Clinton's second term, Herman was named Secretary of Labor, the 1st African American to be nominated for that position and the 5th woman to be appointed. Herman also now serves on the boards of several major companies, including The Coca-Cola Company's Human Resources Task Force, Toyota's Diversity Advisory Board, Cummins, MGM Resorts International, Entergy, Sodexo, and Prudential and is the chairman and CEO of New Ventures, Inc.