In 1972, Alden J. McDonald Jr. left a vice presidency at International City Bank in New Orleans to take charge of a newly formed institution, Liberty Bank and Trust Company. He had entered banking six years earlier, rising to vice president for consumer lending, and the move put him in charge of a Black-owned bank at a time when Black borrowers in much of the country struggled to get loans from white-owned institutions.
He developed mortgage and banking products for financially underserved customers, and he trained for the work at the Louisiana State University School of Banking and Columbia University's Commercial Banking Management Program.
Liberty's own account of its leadership traces the growth in plain numbers. McDonald has held his position since the bank's inception, and under his leadership its assets grew from $2 million in 1972 to more than $1 billion. In 2022, he transitioned the duties of president to his son, Todd McDonald, and continues as co-chairman of the board and chief executive officer. In February 2025, Forbes profiled the bank, noting that it had taken about fifty years to pass the billion-dollar mark under its founding CEO and describing Liberty as the largest Black-owned bank in America.
His civic and industry service has reached well beyond one bank. He has served on the boards of Fannie Mae, the American Bankers Association, the National Bankers Association and the Louisiana Bankers Association, along with New Orleans institutions including the chamber of commerce, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and the Port of New Orleans. University Medical Center New Orleans listed him in its 2024-25 board directory, identifying him as an African American financial executive and Liberty Bank's CEO, and records his role in establishing the Black Economic Development Council.
