GAR Foundation is thrilled to announce that its 2021 Glass Half Full Award will go to President & CEO of Akron Urban League, Teresa R. LeGrair. This award was created in 2011 to recognize Summit County community leaders for their inspiring and optimistic leadership of nonprofit organizations. As part of this award, GAR gave $5,000 to the Akron Urban League in honor of LeGrair’s leadership in Summit County.
Teresa LeGrair serves as president and CEO of the Akron Urban League where the mission is to improve the quality of life of the citizens of Summit County, particularly African Americans, by advocating and facilitating programs that are economically and educationally transformational, impacting their lives and lives of future generations.
“On a daily basis, Teresa exhibits the qualities of leadership and optimism that define this award. She has worked tirelessly for years — pulling people and organizations together around shared priorities and helping all of us to see greater possibilities through collaboration. We are thrilled to honor her for her contribution to our community,” says Christine Amer Mayer, president of GAR Foundation.
Prior to her current role at the Akron Urban League, Teresa held positions with Akron Community Foundation and the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Western Reserve. Earlier in her career, she worked for the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, the Akron Urban League, and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. She also worked at Aetna Health Plans in various roles.
Teresa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Malone University and is a graduate of Leadership Akron, Class XXIV. Her current board and committee involvement include Greater Akron Chamber’s Opportunity & Inclusion Committee, Equity & Inclusion Committee, and Steering Committee, as a part of Elevate Greater Akron, member of the Summa Health Cancer Institute Leadership Advisory Council and the Summa Health Healing Arts Leadership Advisory Council, board member of The Fund for Our Economic Future, and board member of ConxusNEO. She was also appointed by City of Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan to serve on the Racial Equity and Social Justice Taskforce. Prior board and community involvement include Akron Art Museum, Heart to Heart Leadership Board of Directors, Junior Leadership Akron Co-Chair, N.E.X.T. Program Day Chair for Leadership Akron, UW Dorothy O. Jackson Leadership Society, Character Counts Board, United Way Basic Needs Council and Public Policy Committee, and the LeBron James King for Kids Bike-a-Thon. She was the prior award recipient of the Akron Black Women’s Leadership Caucus Award, Akron Urban League’s Woman of Power Award, Moving Beyond Hope Mover and Shaker Award, a finalist for the ATHENA International Leadership Award, and Summit County Historical Society’s 2020 Woman of Year for Integrity Award. Teresa also received the 2021 Lady of Legacy Award from Limitless Ambition. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She has three adult sons, Durrell, Emmanuel, and Jaron, and one granddaughter, Timia.
“I am honored and full of gratitude to be chosen as the recipient of the 2021 Glass Half Full Award. The work that I do is because I strongly believe in this community and it is our responsibility to be a help and a blessing to as many people as possible,” says LeGrair. “Many thanks to GAR Foundation for thinking of me. Doing what I’ve done over three decades was always an easy choice. The work at times is grueling, hard, and stressful, but all I need to do is remind myself how grueling, hard, and stressful it must be for so many of the families we serve – I can then refocus and get to work!”
For more information, contact Lisa Denson at [email protected].