Mercedes LeGrand, Managing Director at Raines International

Mercedes LeGrand is a managing director at Raines International, an executive search and leadership consulting firm headquartered in New York.

LeGrand is the head of the firm’s industrial and emerging technology practice and one of the leaders of its aerospace and defense and government services practice, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She joined Raines International in 2020 after a four-year executive director career with Russell Reynolds Associates, a global leadership advisory and search firm. During that time, she was in charge of RRA’s global aviation, aerospace and defense practice and was a member of its technology officers and digital transformation practices.

For her efforts at RRA, LeGrand landed a spot on ExecutiveBiz’s top 10 list of government contracting executive recruiters for 2017.

Previously, she was also a managing partner at Watermark Strategic Advisors, where she was responsible for a group of technology, government industry, finance and management experts that connected commercial technology developers with federal government buyers.

Additionally, she spent more than two and half years as a strategic planning director tasked with standing up the Department of Homeland Security’s preparedness directorate.

Earlier in her career, she worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, Friedman Billings Ramsey and SRA International.

LeGrand graduated from George Mason University with a bachelor’s degree in government and international politics. She also earned Master of Business Administration degrees in international business and entrepreneurialism from Columbia University and London Business School.