Melva LaJoy Legrand

With over 20 years of experience in the Live Events Industry, Melva LaJoy Legrand— founder/CEO of LaJoy Plans —has established herself as one of the leading event planners in the U.S. Producing events in almost every major city in the country, for audiences ranging in number from 10 to 60,000, Melva started LaJoy Plans to deliver high-quality, stellar services to mission-focused organizations. Coordinating events for budgets in excess of $1M/day, notable attendees include gospel legend Yolanda Adams, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Inaugural National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda C. Gorman, and World Bank President David Malpass, among others.

A graduate of both Howard and Columbia University, Melva is the recipient of several awards involving her event planning successes, but her greatest achievement is being one of the first women to receive the Alice J. Paul Award presented by the American University’s Women & Politics Institute. Recognized for her work in designing a community rally to support college-aged survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, she was one of four inaugural recipients to receive the prestigious award. Melva serves as a board member of the Live Events Coalition—a non-profit organization launched in response to COVID-19—Melva is the organization’s Education Co-Chair, responsible for designing all of the educational experiences for its over 1,500 members.

Outside of her professional realm, Melva is known for her love of people, high energy, unique laugh, creativity, and tenacious work ethic. When not planning events, she can be found raising awareness about dementia in honor of her late father Melvin or enjoying adventures with her beloved husband Emmanuel.