10. Ed Rigaud

Although Ed Rigaud was a rare African American in Procter & Gamble’s (P&G’s) ranks when he arrived in 1965, he recognized early on another kind of diversity, that “of thought and style.” He leaned on those strengths through a successful 35-year-plus career with the company and later with his key leadership role in the founding of the landmark National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (NURFC), the Cincinnati museum and education center founded to trace and honor efforts to abolish slavery and to apply those lessons today. “We’re trying to take that spark that’s inside of most folks and turn it into a flame, and inspire them and challenge them,” Rigaud says of the project, “so they will take courageous steps for freedom today.” ...

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