Grady Poulard
Nationally known motivational speaker and human relations consulting firm owner Grady Emory Poulard was born on August 15, 1936, to Leola Green Poulard and Grady Emory Poulard, Sr. in Crowley, Louisiana. Poulard grew up in Crowley and attended Ross High School, graduating in 1953. He attended Southern University, was elected student body president and served as the editor of the school’s newspaper. Poulard graduated from Southern University in 1957, and received a Rockefeller Fellowship, earning his M.A. degree from Yale University in philosophy and religion thereafter. Poulard also earned his M.A. degree in urban affairs at Columbia University, and is a graduate of the Pacific Institute Graduate Trainer Program.
After college, Poulard began working as an assistant to minister and civil rights activist Dr. Gardner Taylor and held the position of Director of Education at the Concord Church of Brooklyn, New York. He, then, served as an international field representative of the U.S. Student Christian Movement in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Between 1962 and 1964, Poulard served as dean of the Chapel at Christian Medical College in Vellore, South India. In 1965, Poulard became pastor of Peoples Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. He soon became involved in the Civil Rights Movement, as a field executive for the Council of Federated Civil Rights Organizations. This included the NAACP, SCLC, CORE, and SNCC.
In 1969, Poulard became a National Urban Fellow at Clairmont College and decided to go back to school and earn his M.A. degree in urban affairs from Columbia University. In 1970, while working at the American Institute of Architects, Poulard and Robert Nash developed the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). In 1972, Poulard served as special assistant to the Mayor of Washington, D.C. and became the executive director of the Independent Foundation. In 1974, Poulard became the Director for Human Relations for the U.S. General Accounting Office. Poulard is the president of his own management and human relations consulting firm called GPA, Grady Poulard Associates, which he formed in 1975. He is a member of the National Urban League, a board member of the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., is involved with the Black Executive Exchange Program, and is a part of the liaison staff of the White House Conference on Civil Rights.
Poulard has published one book and has contributed articles to several professional journals. He is single, and the father of two sons, Kenneth and Michael.
A2005.117
Male
5/4/2005
Poulard
Ross High School
Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Yale Divinity School
Columbia University
Yale University
Yes
Any
Grady
Crowley
POU02
Any
Depends on audience - Negotiable
Spring
Honorarium Specifics: 10% of engagements can be pro bono
Preferred Audience: Any
Louisiana
It all comes to pass.

District of Columbia
8/15/1936
Washington
USA
Business consulting chief executive, civil rights activist, and motivational speaker Grady Poulard (1936 - ) owns the consulting firm, Grady Poulard Associates. In 1972, Poulard served as Special Assistant to the Mayor of Washington, D.C., and became the executive director of the Independent Foundation. In 1974, Poulard became the Director for Human Relations for the U.S. General Accounting Office.
American Institute of Architects
United States. General Accounting office
Concord Church of Brooklyn
Washington, D.C. Mayor's Office
Christian Medical College (Vellore, India)
Peoples Congregational Church
Council of Federated Organizations (U.S.)
Grady Poulard Associates
Blue
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11921">Tape: 1 Slating of Grady Poulard interview</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11922">Tape: 1 Grady Poulard's favorites</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11923">Tape: 1 Grady Poulard discusses his mother's background</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11924">Tape: 1 Grady Poulard discusses his and his father's name</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11925">Tape: 1 Grady Poulard discusses his father's family background</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11926">Tape: 1 Grady Poulard details his parents' marriage</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11927">Tape: 1 Grady Poulard lists his siblings</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11928">Tape: 1 Grady Poulard shares childhood memories</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11929">Tape: 1 Grady Poulard details his early education</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11930">Tape: 2 Grady Poulard remembers his early music lessons</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11931">Tape: 2 Grady Poulard remembers his preparatory school experience, mid-1950s</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11932">Tape: 2 Grady Poulard recalls his undergraduate years at Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11933">Tape: 2 Grady Poulard recalls his experience at Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut, late 1950s</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11934">Tape: 2 Grady Poulard describes the religious climate of the 1960s</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11935">Tape: 2 Grady Poulard evaluates modern Christianity</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11936">Tape: 2 Grady Poulard details his assignments to international posts, 1960s</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11937">Tape: 2 Grady Poulard discusses his first marriage</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11938">Tape: 2 Grady Poulard details his years in India</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11939">Tape: 2 Grady Poulard discusses his civil rights involvement as a Council of Federated Organizations official</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11940">Tape: 3 Grady Poulard recounts his training efforts as a Council of Federated Organizations official</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11941">Tape: 3 Grady Poulard reflects on his appointment as minister of the People's Congregational United Church of Christ, Washington, D.C.</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11942">Tape: 3 Grady Poulard discusses conservative Christian practices and theories</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11943">Tape: 3 Grady Poulard evaluates mega-churches</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11944">Tape: 3 Grady Poulard discusses his civil rights work in the Lyndon B. Johnson administration</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11945">Tape: 3 Grady Poulard remembers the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11946">Tape: 3 Grady Poulard reviews his studies in urban affairs</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11947">Tape: 3 Grady Poulard reviews his efforts as an institutional organizer</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11948">Tape: 3 Grady Poulard discusses his employment with the Department of Housing and Urban Development</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11949">Tape: 4 Grady Poulard discusses his employment with the United States General Accounting Office</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11950">Tape: 4 Grady Poulard describes his venture, Grady Poulard Associates</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11951">Tape: 4 Grady Poulard shares advice on marriage</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11952">Tape: 4 Grady Poulard shares reflections on his life's course</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11953">Tape: 4 Grady Poulard reflects on issues of race and class in the U.S.</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11954">Tape: 4 Grady Poulard shares his personal philosophy</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11955">Tape: 4 Grady Poulard considers his legacy</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11956">Tape: 4 Grady Poulard discusses his family</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11957">Tape: 5 Grady Poulard continues to discuss the institution of marriage</a>
<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11958">Tape: 5 Grady Poulard describes how he'd like to be remembered</a>