Alumni Spotlights
Teresa LeGrair '99 serves as President and CEO of the Akron Urban League
Early in her life Teresa LeGrair ‘99 knew that she had unique goals.
“I was never the girl who dreamed about getting married and having babies, I always dreamed about being a business woman. I insisted to my mother that I have a bookbag for kindergarten, and my bookbag had to look like a briefcase,” said LeGrair. “She found one and put a little piece of paper and a sharpened pencil in it. I was in kindergarten after all, so what was there really to carry in it? I remember walking to school with that bag and imagining that I was actually going to work.”
As she entered the professional sphere that same attitude remained with LeGrair, although, as is common, the day-to-day interruptions of life often required her to re-strategize her goals.
“I always wanted to go to college as a personal goal of mine. I started that journey but I got married young, and in two years I had my first child. From then on there was a pattern of start school, have a child, then take a break; not to mention the difficulty of going to school while also raising children,” she said. “After I had my third child I knew if I didn’t go to school this time, 17 years out of high school with three kids, I wasn’t going to do it.”
Despite the difficulty in making a college education work with her schedule, LeGrair was still the same woman who, as a little girl, proudly carried a briefcase into kindergarten. She knew she just had to find the right path.
“Malone provided an opportunity that I knew had a start and end date. I always say that anybody can press-on for a period of time. I knew Malone’s program would give me an opportunity to learn and get back into an academic environment while leaving with a degree,” she said. “It was a blessing that Malone had a program formatted in that way, and I was a poster child for it, working full time and married with children. I was living a good life, but I still had an educational goal that I had not achieved, and Malone allowed me to complete that goal.”
Just before coming to Malone, LeGrair left her job at Aetna Health Services where she had worked for 17 years. After climbing the ranks in that company, starting from entry-level clerical work, LeGrair took the leap because she knew a Malone degree would equip her for the future she envisioned for herself.
“As I left my job at Aetna, I knew that having the degree would be a springboard for staying on my career path and moving into other leadership roles. The degree provides additional credibility no matter how much work experience one has,” she said. “The program allowed me to delve into the areas of study that I was interested in immediately. By the end of the program, I had pride in my accomplishments and my work. Bit by bit, I could look back and see all the work that I had done in a giant binder that we all accumulated over our coursework. At times, I still refer back to that binder for things that I’ve learned. I knew at that point in my life my career was in the business field, and that program was exactly what I needed.”
With her degree in Business Management completed, LeGrair began a professional journey in which she would excel at the highest level in numerous organizations. A key to this success was a high standard of excellence for herself, as well as the cultivation of an invaluable network.
“I’ve always protected my reputation, walked in a place of integrity, and wherever I’ve worked I’ve done my best and demonstrated my skills. What started to happen frequently was when I wasn’t in a room my name still came up, and people would say ‘Teresa will know what to do, call her.’ So many people tell their executives about me, and I’m grateful for that and I don’t take it lightly,” she said. “Fortunately I always saw the value in a professional network, even if I didn’t understand how much it would really help me down the road. Over many years my network came back in a positive way; I have only ever had to apply for one job.”
And LeGrair has definitely saved time filling out applications. She began her executive career as Executive Director of Human Resources at The Akron Inventors Hall of Fame before becoming Vice President of Operations at The Akron Urban League. She then became Vice President of The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, and was then pursued by an executive search firm to eventually become the Chief Executive of The Boys and Girls Club of the Western Reserve.
“I made the decision to move on from the Boys and Girls Club, and once word got out that I was leaving the phone started ringing. I got a call from the CEO of the Akron Community Foundation, and ultimately four months down the road I joined that organization as a Program Officer before being promoted to Director of Community Investment,” said LeGrair. “That was my first time on the philanthropy side of things, which I enjoyed because it was a completely different perspective from my previous work.”
LeGrair however found that this type of work wasn’t giving her what she had come to learn as ideal job conditions.
“I know what my brain needs, which is a high level of stimulation to be fulfilled at a job. That position was low stress, and it wasn’t the right fit for me,” she said. “Again, once people knew I was leaving I began to be contacted. I was approached by a lot of people at The Akron Urban League. I never thought I would return to run the organization, but when the opening came this time there was a peace about it that I had, and I knew that this was the time that I was supposed to go into this role.”
LeGrair has served as the President and CEO of The Akron Urban League ever since; a position that she knows is of utmost importance.
“We have to work from a standard of excellence. I always tell my team that if they ever think we’re doing too much or that it doesn’t take all this work, I can confidently say that it does. We have too many people counting on us and too much at stake for us to fail,” she said. “Our focus is to remove barriers and create opportunities for our residents in all of Summit County. Our logo is an equal sign, and that represents equality and inclusion. We address issues around bigotry, racism, white supremacy, biases; all of those things that have unfortunately existed for centuries. We work in the area of workforce development, training, resume writing, interview preparation, and with hundreds of small minority and women owned businesses. Our primary focus is always going to be the African-American population as we address barriers and open doors for people on the road to self-sufficiency.”
And while there is a focus on the day-to-day well-being of Summit county citizens, the organization also makes big-picture efforts.
“We are also at the table around advocacy concerning legislation and laws being proposed that would be detrimental to the black and brown community. Those are things we focus on 24/7 because there is still disparity and racism is alive and well,” said LeGrair. “It’s hard work, but rewarding. It's a fight we’ve got to keep fighting.”
While much of LeGrair’s success can be attributed to her hard work, self-standard of excellence, and years of cultivating her professional network, she still views her time at Malone as crucial.
“The academics were just what I needed because what I was learning I absolutely knew I would be using again. Having that curriculum be directly related to what I knew I wanted to do professionally mattered a lot to me,” she said. “Even though I haven’t necessarily attended Malone’s events, I read a lot of the publications that Malone puts out. I love that Malone is a faith based school, and I like to see other students succeeding. I’ve kept up with Malone because I feel like it's a part of my journey, my family, and it feels familiar. I have nothing but good thoughts about what my journey was at Malone.”
Looking back, even though her path was not the most traditional, LeGrair is thankful for the journey.
“There are times I wish I had a more traditional journey, but my life was different. I don’t regret it at all. It was tough, but it was my journey. Malone having that program was a blessing to me because it allowed me to get there in spite of everything else I had to deal with in my life. I felt celebrated at the end of it all; Malone made me feel legitimate and acknowledged that I had worked extremely hard to get that degree. It’s a rewarding feeling to be a part of the Malone family.”
Daniel Bancroft '16 went from Canton to Tulsa to Ukraine
For Daniel Bancroft ‘16, a biology major, Malone University is a family affair.
“My grandpa, who was Malone’s first basketball coach and was on Malone’s board, and my grandma, attended Malone when it was still Cleveland Bible College. My aunt, my dad, and my brother who was a year ahead of me all came to Malone as well,” said Bancroft. “Malone also offered excellent academics, especially preparing for post-graduate work. Coming to Malone was really a family thing. I was very comfortable with that choice.”
Bancroft’s familiarity with Malone allowed him to settle in for his rigorous studies while still forming relationships that would last for the rest of his life.
“I lived with my brother and we both studied a lot due to majoring in the sciences, but simple things like hanging out with our friends in the dorm were a lot of fun. We played a lot of intramural sports. We won the flag football intramural championship and got to play the championship game on the Football Hall of Fame Field,” he said. “I met my wife at Malone, so obviously that’s a highlight. We started to date after being biochemistry lab partners, which caused us to spend a lot of time together. My brother and I went home a lot on weekends, and our buddies from Malone would come along to hunt and fish with us.”
Bancroft, while always focused on his academics, didn’t really see himself going into medicine from the start.
“My dad is a veterinarian with his own practice, and it was my plan to join him. My brother had the same idea and was studying pre-med as well, and the goal was for all of us to work at the practice together. I was pre-med for a few years, and I shadowed my dad for over 600 hours at his practice and worked on farms, but I just felt the Lord saying that I wasn’t supposed to do that,” he said. “After a lot of prayer I ended up taking the medical college admission test even though I didn’t have all the classes for it yet, but by a lot of studying and God’s grace got into medical school the first year.”
This Spirit-led career shift took Bancroft to In His Image Family Medicine in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he currently is in his third year of residency.
“I am currently the chief resident of our residency program. There are ten residents per class, and then there are other attending doctors who are over us. One or two third year residents are picked to be essentially ‘junior faculty.’ I go to all the staff meetings, and I’m the resident representative in those,” he said. “If either the residents or the faculty are having a problem I, or my co-chief, communicate that to the appropriate group to work that out. I’m also in charge of making all the schedules for the hospital, and unfortunately if someone calls off at 4 a.m. sick, I’m the one who gets the phone call and has to figure out how to cover that shift. I’m the bad guy a lot. On Christmas, I had to call someone in from out of state, which is never fun.”
Through hard work and a standard of self-excellence, Bancroft was chosen for this position by his superiors, as well as his peers.
“I was selected for this position by a committee which considers many factors. They survey all the residents, and they rank different people for different positions based on their strengths and qualifications,” said Bancroft. “As chief resident I have to have the respect of my peers as well as the faculty due to the responsibility of the position. It’s a lot of work, but it's very rewarding and I’m thankful for the opportunity.”
In addition to his work in Oklahoma, In His Image has found ways to utilize Bancroft’s talents beyond the states.
“Our residency program’s goal is to continue the Great Commission through healthcare. When the conflict in Ukraine started we began to send trips there. We had sent four, and the fifth was going in October, which I was supposed to go on,” he said. “However, my wife was 12 weeks pregnant with our second child. As I was getting ready to leave, she began to have complications with her pregnancy so I canceled the trip. She was on bed-rest for months, and the Lord taught us a lot about patience and trusting him through that.”
After a bit of time, the call to Ukraine remained in Bancroft’s mind.
“After our second child was born, our program’s director told me there was another trip going to Ukraine and that I should pray about it. At the time I couldn't imagine leaving my wife and kids. However, we prayed about it and my wife told me that I should go,” said Bancroft. “After I said yes, I realized that we were going to a city that was actively being shelled, but the first week that we were there ended up being the first week that the city was not shelled which was one of the many ways God intervened to keep us safe on the trip. The goal was to partner with a lot of the churches in town to set up makeshift clinics. We had interpreters who spoke Russian, and with their help we would see people, diagnose and treat them with free medicine, and give them medical advice for the future. The churches were the only safe water supply in the city, so people would come to get water and see that there was medical care and get that as well.”
In light of a dangerous situation, Bancroft was still able to show the love of Christ to those he was treating.
“Because of the proximity to the front lines, tanks would often roll by at night rattling windows as Ukraine would reposition its troops. As a result many of the patients we met would ask why we would come here? We could then tell them that we felt God had called us to come help and show the love of Christ. As a result of that, a lot of people got saved. But just as significant I think, Christians who were already serving there were able to see that the Body of Christ in America is deeply concerned about their well-being. Seeing and experiencing the love of Christ amongst our brothers and sisters in Ukraine was remarkable. Being able to go there and see how the love of Christ present in the Church transcends national boundaries was deeply moving for me, as well as the Christians we met, and the unity of the group, which consisted of 3 different countries, was nothing short of miraculous.”
Through all the twists and turns in his life, Bancroft is able to look back at his time at Malone and appreciate the multifaceted foundation a Malone experience gave him.
“All of my professors at Malone pushed me really hard. The classes were academically rigorous and that helped prepare me for medical school. The foundation they laid was phenomenal. All of my friends who went on to medical school would say the same thing; we all felt very prepared,” he said. “Spiritually, I was able to connect with people who were well founded and connected with the Church. Randy Heckert, who was the chaplain at the time, really showed me that the Christian faith has deep, old roots that I can draw strength from when I need to, even today. Being in a new environment and having that bedrock of faith was awesome.”
Whether his work brings him back to the Midwest or overseas, Bancroft is ready for the challenge.
“I have some interviews in Ohio set up closer to home, and I’ve interviewed a few places out here in Tulsa. My wife and I would like to do missions, so possibly remaining with In His Image due to their mission's focus is another possibility. We’ll just wait and see what comes.”