Alabama Power’s Donna O’Connor is an unsung hero to people in need, at home and in Honduras
Donna O'Connor at work for Alabama Power Corporate Real Estate. (Dennis Washington/Alabama NewsCenter)
Alabama Power Senior Real Estate Specialist Donna O’Connor sees a lot of property — sometimes it includes Honduras.
She volunteers with a medical mission team to distribute prescription and reading glasses to hundreds of people in villages around Honduras. She has returned for several years not only to provide glasses but to provide water filters for households in Honduras and other third world countries.
“If people have clean water, their entire health is changed,” said O’Connor. “We can’t imagine drinking brown, filthy water that you cannot even see through. It is impossible to change their health long term until they are provided a way to have clean water.”
Alabama Power day job is just the beginning for hard-working Donna O’Connor from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
A 35-year Alabama Power employee, O’Connor started working in the Customer Service Center in Tuscaloosa. Her career path led through accounting, Power Delivery’s mapping department, the distribution engineering department, the distribution support organization and eventually to her current role.
She supports Corporate Real Estate’s efforts to acquire legally defendable land and land rights for Alabama Power. Her primary job duties include negotiating with landowners to acquire rights necessary to facilitate construction, operation and maintenance of the company’s system and facilities. She has significant interaction with internal and external customers.
“Donna is an asset to Corporate Real Estate and to our customers,” said Land Acquisition Team Leader Berkley Horton. “She works closely with the engineers and customers to ensure all their needs are met. She is a mentor to many of the employees here in Tuscaloosa and takes pride in her work and helping others.”
O’Connor is a founding member of Western Division’s Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO). Over the years, she has volunteered on many projects in the community, including Habitat for Humanity, Phoenix House (drug and alcohol rehabilitation), ESL (English as a Second Language, teaching English to Spanish-speaking people), Projects for First United Methodist Church Tuscaloosa, Meals on Wheels, Community Soup Bowl, West Alabama Food Bank and the Rise Center.
She led efforts to get a Habitat Home for Vickie Edwards, a member of the Tuscaloosa office cleaning crew who lost everything in the 2011 tornados.
Alabama Power’s Corporate Real Estate organization is committed to being good stewards by prudently managing company land. The Land Acquisition department strives to provide excellent customer service in supporting the needs of Alabama Power through negotiating while maintaining the highest standards.
Each month, Alabama NewsCenter spotlights employees for their contributions to the company and the role they play in elevating Alabama.
