Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated’s® International President & CEO is Danette Anthony Reed, a retired corporate executive who comes to the position with more than 49 years of experience to lead the international organization of 365,000 initiated members. While International President & CEO, her program administration theme is “Soaring to Greater Heights of Service and Sisterhood”®.
Ms. Reed ascended to Alpha Kappa Alpha’s highest office in July 2022 and took the helm of the nation’s first African American sorority for college-educated women, which this year is celebrating 117 years since its founding at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She makes history as the first engineer to serve in the chief executive leadership role.
As International President & CEO, Ms. Reed guides policy, develops programs, and leads a Board of Directors that oversees the sorority’s more than 1,085 chapters throughout the United States and 11 other countries and territories. Every day, she upholds the sorority’s mission “to be of Service to All Mankind.” In addition, she serves as President of the Boards of the AKA Educational Advancement Foundation and the AKA Housing Foundation. Also, for the newly-established For Members Only Federal Credit Union™, she serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
A committed Life Member, Ms. Reed has held more than two dozen leadership positions in the sorority at all levels, including most recently, International First Vice President, and formerly she served as International Treasurer. She is a charter member of Omicron Mu Omega Chapter in Dallas, TX, where she remains an active member. She served as President and Vice President of three chapters and received the South Central Region’s Outstanding President’s Award.
Ms. Reed, a retired PepsiCo executive, brings decades of corporate leadership, financial acumen, community service engagement, and progressive sorority governance to the role. She prides herself on engaging members of the sorority by being Authentic, Knowledgeable, and Accessible. Throughout her professional career and sorority service, Ms. Reed has demonstrated a rich ability to listen and lead among all constituents at all levels to maximize community impact.
While International Vice President, Ms. Reed delivered more than 50 presentations at various conferences and events on the sorority’s finances and how to improve local chapter finances. In addition, she served during the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to advance the sorority’s mission and working tirelessly to envision the best direction for the organization in programs and service during her term.
As a corporate executive, Ms. Reed rose through the operations ranks at PepsiCo, where she became the first African American woman plant director for Frito-Lay to lead the startup of an $80 million bakery facility in Dallas. She later moved to Frito-Lay’s corporate office where she led a cross-functional team in the commercialization of $300 million in innovative products. In 2017, she retired after 34 years of service.
The daughter of two educators, Ms. Reed holds a master’s degree in business administration, specializing in finance, from Southern Methodist University and a bachelor’s degree of science, in industrial engineering, from Northwestern University.
Initiated in 1976 into Gamma Chi Chapter at Northwestern University, Ms. Reed’s Alpha Kappa Alpha lineage runs three generations deep. She follows in the footsteps of her mother, Mary Alice Anthony, who has more than 65 years of service and is a member of Theta Omega Chapter in Chicago. Ms. Reed’s daughter, Erynn Denise Reed, was initiated in 2015 and she joins her mother as a member of Omicron Mu Omega Chapter. Ms. Reed’s sister, Dr. Cheryl Anthony-Worix, and niece, Melanie Worix, round out her family’s circle of sorority members. Ms. Reed also is the proud mother of her son, Anthony Leelynn Reed.
In addition to her Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority service, President Reed is a member of the national board of directors of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), and the National Pan-Hellenic Council’s (NPHC) Presidents’ Council. She also is a charter member of the Greater Denton County (TX) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated; a member of the Top Ladies of Distinction of Dallas, TX; a member of the Carrousels of Dallas, TX; a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians; and a former Girl Scouts leader. In addition, she serves as Treasurer of the Krugerville, Texas Community Development Corporation.
She has received numerous awards including:
- National Coalition on Black Civic Participation Spirit of Democracy “Civic Empowerment and Champion of Democracy Leadership Award
- Dallas Volunteers of America “Women In Play” Award
- Dallas Metro News Leadership Award
- National Center for Women’s Innovation – Pioneer Award
- Congressional Black Caucus Foundation – Phoenix Service Award
- Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated Leadership Award
- United Negro College Fund (UNCF) Ambassador Andrew Young Award
- Dallas African American Museum Heritage Award
- National Action Network Action & Authority Award
- Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated Carey B. Preston Leadership Award
- Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals
- Women’s Inclusion Network Lifetime Achievement Award
- PepsiCo’s Global Harvey Russell Diversity and Inclusion Award
- National Council of Negro Women Outstanding Service Award
- Greater Denton County Chapter of The Links, Incorporated Leadership Award
- Women’s Inclusion Network Leadership Development Award
- Women of Color “Making an Impact Award”
