Deborah Augustine Grant

A corporate pioneer, Deborah Augustine Grant of New Orleans, La., rose to the C-suite at GE as president of the GE Foundation and chief diversity officer. Her 30-year career has enabled her to launch Corporate Playbook™, an executive coaching and strategic solutions consulting firm, where she serves as president and CEO.

A trailblazer in her own right, Grant made history when GE’s board of directors appointed her as the first-ever black female corporate officer, making her one of the most senior executive leaders in the company. Today, she is one of the foremost experts and champions of leadership development, diversity, inclusion, and philanthropy. Corporate Playbook™’s offerings of specialized executive coaching and the strategic development of leaders to advance their professional endeavors form the bedrock and culmination of Grant’s life work.

She continues to disrupt the status quo with the unprecedented launch of Dining with Deb™, an innovative dining experience that brings together professional women crossing racial, religious, and political lines and drives meaningful connections and conversations. Grant’s ingenuity with Corporate Playbook™ and Dining with Deb™ have brought her before audiences across the country, speaking on the main stage, as well as into intimate conversations on leadership.

Grant is an alumna of LSU, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology. Her career catapulted after graduating from Southern University, where she earned a master’s degree in public administration. For her steadfast contributions in diversity and philanthropy, she was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from Clarkson University in 2016.

Grant has earned a lifetime of accolades, including but not limited to one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Business and one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Philanthropy. She is also a recipient of the Women of Excellence Legacy Award by the National Association for Female Executives and a recipient of the Women of Power Award by the National Urban League.

Grant holds membership in a number of critical organizations. She is a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), an organization of the top African Americans in Corporate America; The National Black MBA Association; Delta Sigma Sorority, Inc., and The Links, Inc. Additionally, Grant is on the board of directors at the LSU Foundation and The New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute. She has two adult daughters.