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Through eight years with the Baltimore Ravens and her first year at Major League Baseball, Melanie LeGrande didn’t have the words “social responsibility” in her job title. The only time that term appeared on her business card was during the three years between those two career stops, when she worked at the nonprofit Silicon Valley Community Foundation as senior director of corporate responsibility.
With the Ravens, LeGrande was director of community relations. With MLB, she joined as director of community affairs.
Melanie LeGrande
Vice President, Social Responsibility, Major League Baseball
Born: Berlin
Education: Morgan State University, B.S., marketing; Georgia State University, M.S., sports administration
It was during a restructuring of MLB at the start of 2017 that LeGrande assumed her current position, which previously did not exist at the league and wasn’t often found in sports.
“Corporate responsibility is running your business in a way that considers the triple bottom line: your people, your planet and your profits,” said LeGrande. “So for me, I’ve been doing this work for 15 years.
“The pivot happened when I left sports for a few years. But the work was still the same. Instead of working with athletes and coaches and saying how do you want to impact this community and what can we work on together that will be a rewarding experience that has great reach — instead, I was doing that with companies. … The work was still the same. It’s still the theme of how can we be a responsible corporation.” — Bill King
Getting to know...
Guilty pleasure: Hummingbird cake from Magnolia Bakery.
Something your friends would consider “so you”: Bingeing on “Murder, She Wrote” before bed.
Woman in sports business you’d like to meet: Becky Hammon, San Antonio Spurs assistant coach.
Role of sports in social issues: The power of sports to bring about change is immeasurable. The platform is massive and spans audiences in our ballparks, arenas and stadiums to millions more around the globe through digital and broadcast channels. And above all, our talent. … We are in a unique position and should use our platform and our financial investments to be a reflection of our values and our own strategy to strengthen communities around the globe.
