The HistoryMakers

Businesswoman Desiree Glapion Rogers was born on June 16, 1959 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Roy and Joyce Glapion. Rogers graduated from New Orleans' Sacred Heart High School in 1977 and earned her B.A. degree in political science from Wellesley College in 1981. In 1985, she earned her M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. Rogers' father was very active in the city's Zulu Organization and was its president from 1976 to 1988. Rogers herself was Queen of the organization in 1988 and in 2000.

After graduate school, Rogers married John Rogers, moved to Chicago, Illinois and began working for AT&T. Soon thereafter, she became an executive for entrepreneur Larry Levy. In 1990, Rogers was appointed by Governor Jim Edgar, to run the Illinois State Lottery. In 1997, she became Vice President of Corporate Communications for Peoples Energy. Rogers was promoted to Chief Marketing Officer in 2000. In 2004, she was elected President of the company's two utility subsidies, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas. In this role, she also serves as a senior vice president of the Integrys Energy Group.

Rogers sits on a number of corporate and civic boards, including Equity Residential, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, the Museum of Science and Industry and Northwestern Hospital. She has been included in Crain's "Top 25 Women to Watch" and "40 Under 40 Business Leaders." Black Enterprise magazine has included her in the "Top 50 Most Powerful African American Business Women" and the "Top 75 Most Powerful Blacks in Corporate America."

Rogers lives in Chicago with her daughter, Victoria.

Rogers was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 27, 2007.