The AT&T Pro-Am chief of philanthropy shares some surprises as the tourney tees off.

Something that has settled close to Laurel Lee-Alexander’s heart happened in two faraway places. When the now-Seaside resident was a Chinese-American college student in Norway (who actually spoke Norwegian), and when she was a corporate product manager in Hong Kong (who couldn’t speak much Chinese), she got very similar responses from very different populations. Those responses went something like, “Whaaa?”

Neither group expected that combination of accent and language from that combination of geography and ethnicity.

“I hope they got an education by getting their stereotypes shaken up a little bit,” she says. “It’s an opportunity to broaden perspectives, including my own.”

Today, more than a decade into her work with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and its parent nonprofit Monterey Peninsula Foundation, she’s still torquing stereotypes, helping revise those around golf, giving and the traffic that arrives with the tournament.

•••

What has changed since you came on as director of grant programs in 2003?

From my perspective, as a non-golfer, it would be my understanding of how Monterey Peninsula Foundation is so much more than the Pro-Am. The PGA Tour gives more to the community than the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball combined. I had no idea of that in ’03.

The game of golf has a lot of misperceptions. A lot of stereotypes. At the core, it’s all about the community. There’s a large economic impact.

I was the first director of grant programs – before, most everyone focused on the tournament – so it allowed a focus specifically on philanthropy. I was given the mandate to incorporate best practices, shape areas of giving, hone grant-giving, ways of working with nonprofits.

Another thing has changed: the amount given. When I joined it was in the $3 million range. Last year it was just shy of $13 million. And all the funders in the area are working more collaboratively today. When I joined, it was very collegial, but they didn’t work together. Now we meet every month, collaborate on pressing issues and the ups and downs of the needs in the community.

How unique is the AT&T as a tournament and an engine for charity?

I’m biased, but I think we have the best sponsor on the tour, best venue and we attract so many high-level celebrities. Many fans aren’t here to see the world-class golf, but the stars. And what other tournament can call their chairman [Clint Eastwood] and say, “We need these golfers, can you get them?”

In terms of philanthropy, we have a limited business [base] here. But we are second only to Byron Nelson Championship – which is in a major metro area, Dallas – in what we raise. I think that says a lot.

The people who run it – including board members, who are all volunteers – are part of more than 2,000 volunteers, some of whom come out and stay at a hotel on their own dime to spend a week volunteering, maybe herding buses in the cold weather. Plus we have the contestants. People think it’s dominated by rich, white men, but there’s been a sea change, with golfers from many different countries and all ages represented.

Your most memorable AT&T is-this-really-happening moment?

My husband [Seaside City Councilman] Dennis [Alexander] is from Milwaukee, Wis., and through him I’ve become a big Packers fan. Two years ago Aaron Rodgers was playing, and part of my duties are escorting guests with their foursomes. I got to meet him. I was wearing a Green Bay Packers lanyard with a replica of the Super Bowl ring and he said he liked it. My [in-laws] couldn’t believe it. But as staff we try to manage those interactions, treat them as people, let them have a safe place. Player hospitality is important: They’re here to play golf and entertain.

What would surprise people about what happens behind the scenes?

There are still people in the community, some whom are recipients, who don’t know the money they get in grants comes from the AT&T Pro-Am. I would like to ask the community to be gracious about the added traffic, added crowds and inconveniences you might have this week, because it’s all being poured back into the community.