Latest news with #DavidD'Alessandro


Business Wire
22-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
David D'Alessandro Joins IDC as Chairman of the Board
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--International Data Corporation (IDC), the trusted technology intelligence leader, today announced the appointment of David D'Alessandro as Chairman of its Board of Directors. A seasoned executive with a career spanning financial services, sports, and entertainment, D'Alessandro brings a legacy of leadership grounded in brand transformation, operational rigor, and ethical governance. IDC, the trusted technology intelligence leader, today announced the appointment of David D'Alessandro as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Share He succeeds Steve Singh, who will continue to serve as a director on the Board. Singh, the former Chairman and CEO of Concur and a former Member of the Executive Board of SAP, recently stepped into the role of interim CEO at Spotnana. 'David is a strategist, a brand visionary, and a respected leader who understands the power of data to drive meaningful outcomes,' said Genevieve Juillard, CEO of IDC. 'His experience leading through complex market transitions and advising organizations through transformation will be invaluable as IDC continues its path of innovation and growth." D'Alessandro spent two decades at John Hancock, where he rose from marketing executive to Chairman and CEO. He led the company through a high-profile IPO and its subsequent merger with Manulife Financial. Under his leadership, John Hancock became a globally recognized sponsor of events like the Boston Marathon, the New York City Marathon, and the Olympic Games. He later served as Chairman and CEO of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and held a seat on Major League Baseball's Special Task Force on the 21st Century. D'Alessandro currently serves as Chairman of Encore Event Technologies. D'Alessandro is also the author of three best-selling books on leadership and ethics in business: Brand Warfare, Career Warfare, and Executive Warfare. He owns Toscano restaurants in Boston and Cambridge and remains a strong voice on corporate responsibility and performance. 'IDC is entering an exciting new chapter,' said D'Alessandro. 'The strategic divestment of Foundry — completed in March 2025 — frees up capital and focus for IDC's core strength: delivering sharp, data-driven technology intelligence. This transition positions us to double down on innovation and AI-powered insights that empower businesses to navigate complex market shifts with confidence.' D'Alessandro joins a board committed to supporting IDC's mission to deliver trusted tech intelligence that illuminates the path forward for technology buyers and suppliers worldwide. About IDC International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology, IT benchmarking and sourcing, and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is the world's leading tech media, data, and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights.


Boston Globe
21-02-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
The corporate world wants its money's worth from DEI
Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up In fact, he also has unintentionally made the argument in favor of regulation requiring DEI programs by telling us that the only way to get a corporation to act as a responsible member of the community is to make it unprofitable not to. Advertisement Corporations were controversial from the beginning largely because of their amorality. As Edward Thurlow, the 18th-century British lord high chancellor, said: 'Corporations have neither bodies to be punished nor souls to be condemned; they therefore do as they like.' Julia Glendon Lunenburg David D'Alessandro missed an opportunity to say something worthwhile about DEI in his recent op-ed. Instead, he expressed his belief that businesses need only be guided by greed. The main goal — the heart — of DEI is and should be to avoid racial and sexual discrimination in our society. So what are we to make of D'Alessandro's claim that businesses should keep DEI as a policy only if it benefits their bottom line? Advertisement Helping businesses make more money might be a side benefit of DEI, but it was never the purpose. And while it can be argued that, as an idea, DEI has been inflated and overly broad in practice, we should not, as D'Alessandro suggests, throw the baby out with the bathwater. It appears as if D'Alessandro sees no difference between democracy and capitalism. Perhaps he doesn't know that today when thoughtful people say, 'What is good for GM is good for the country,' they are joking. Ron Willig Maynard Rejecting DEI until proponents can answer corporate America's call to 'show me the money' is crass. Hiding behind capitalism to argue that a benefit to employees is valuable only if it can be distilled to specific dollar amounts is disingenuous. Offering competitive salaries and other numerous benefits cost companies money, but they come with the long-term benefit of attracting and retaining talent. Likewise, a DEI program is another benefit that attracts talent and that improves retention rates if all employees are given the resources and support they need to succeed. To paraphrase another line from 'Jerry Maguire': Help us help you. Caitlin Keresey Middleborough At least David D'Alessandro is honest about the whole motivation and intent of capitalism: money. Apparently, social justice and equality play second fiddle to the pursuit of profit. He credits Donald Trump for giving corporate elites the 'cover to get out from under the monster that DEI advocates had created.' He translates that into not having to hire 'unqualified people,' but history shows that many qualified people were denied opportunities to ply their skills due to their ethnic heritage. Advertisement So much then for enlightened self-interest or doing well by doing good — two phrases that were often employed by corporate elites in the 1990s, in defense of deregulation. In other words: Just show us the money and we will comply with DEI. D'Alessandro's op-ed ought to prompt us to question who benefits from capitalism and just how compatible it is with democracy. Dana Franchitto South Wellfleet David D'Alessandro constructed his cynical celebration of noted US corporations' recent abandonment of their DEI programs on the whipped backs of 'DEI advocates,' who exist only as figments of his own repudiation. Though D'Alessandro does not bother to give these advocates embodiment or names, he brags that corporate executives' expulsion of DEI programs is an understandable backlash for the disrespectful treatment they received from the 'DEI overlords.' Detractors of government policies that foster greater justice and equity for all can always find examples of shortcomings and abuses that serve their purpose. But focusing on these examples of imperfections and limitations is an attempt to obscure the essential point of the greater good these policies make in the lives of millions of Americans, present and future. The crucial moral and political principle of DEI, like the US civil rights legislation and affirmative action policies that preceded it, is our shared determination to end injustices in the lives and laws of our nation. That will continue to make America greater again. James L. Sherley Boston