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Etienne R. LeGrand

When Etienne LeGrand and her husband, Hal Logan, read an alarming Harvard University newsletter in 2002 about the overwhelming academic achievement gap, they knew something had to be done.  The report on how African-American students compare to their white and Asian peers resonated with their fears.  And, the theory about the influence of culture on the widening gap confirmed the trends they’d witnessed firsthand.  It was then that LeGrand and Logan decided to take action.

Now, seven years later, LeGrand is president and co-founder of the W.E.B. Du Bois Society, a non-profit organization whose mission is to affirm, celebrate and reward academic achievement among African- American students. The organization endeavors to leave a lasting, transformational impact on black teen culture—shifting the way black teens, families and communities think about and reward academic achievement.  

For LeGrand, this passion to narrow the academic achievement gap is birthed out of a deeply-rooted esteem for education—a value that her father instilled and reinforced daily before his death during her teenage years.  Now, she is able to instill that same esteem in the hearts and minds of hundreds of black youth in metro Atlanta schools, leaving a legacy that she knows would make her father proud.

A born leader, Etienne’s current role was preceded by her position as principal of The Enterprise Group, a strategic marketing and communications consulting practice she founded in 1996.  Before launching this entrepreneurial endeavor, Etienne held various leadership positions in the private and public sectors in the financial services, business and economic development and children’s policy arenas.

Under her leadership, the W.E.B. Du Bois Society has been recognized by the Atlanta Delta Life Development Center Inc., for promoting academic excellence among African-American Youth, and has received the Image Award from the 100 Black Men of North Metro, Inc. for mentoring and education.

Etienne frequently provides commentary in the Atlanta Journal Constitution as an editorial contributor and education expert and has been featured on the Education Doctor Radio. The Atlanta Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. has recognized her as an honoree for the Torch Award in Education, and she has received the Local Hero Award from Bank of America, Neighborhood Excellence Initiative. The Black Women's Agenda Inc. has honored her with the NAME AWARD, and she has been engaged as a feature panelist and speaker by Teach for America, Mocha Moms, Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF), and others.

In addition to her responsibilities at the W.E.B. Du Bois Society, Etienne serves on the boards of the Atlanta-Fulton Library Foundation and Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center.  She previously served on the executive committee of the Board of Directors for the Black Women’s Health Imperative, was past Vice Chair and a Founding Director of Community Bank of the Bay, the first FDIC chartered development bank in the state of California, and a former member of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Women’s Foundation. Etienne is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Etienne earned a Masters in Business Administration degree from the Graduate School of Business at Northeastern University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston University.  She is married to Hal Logan and has three children.