Judith LaGarde has spent more than 45 years in the telecommunications industry. After holding numerous positions responsible for mathematical and statistical tasks while employed by Verizon, she transferred to AT&T and expanded her skill set with business skills by earning an MBA degree.
The combination of her business skills and mathematical expertise put her in a position to work in several different capacities at AT&T and at different management levels. Her responsibilities included market analyses of telecommunications companies, management of the organization responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with other local, cable and broadband companies, And, when AT&T decided to expand its cellphone service nationally, Director LaGarde developed and negotiated its first partnering contract valued at over One Billion Dollars. The contract became the basis for similar contracts being used at AT&T today.
Dir. LaGarde retired from AT&T as Director-Network Planning and Engineering and is now an independent consultant and provides it with telecommunications contract expertise.
Judith’s educational background is marked with honors. She graduated from high school with honors, was inducted into numerous honor societies while attending Norfolk State University, was selected as one of four students nationally to participate in Brookhaven National Laboratory’s program in New York where she studied advance math principles under a prominent scientist. She became a member of the National Honor Society, graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, and subsequently received an MBA from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Her heart for helping others has been longstanding. Although early on she understood achieving academically was critical for success, she also developed a desire to help others. She tutored fellow students after school and in other ways helped the needy and underprivileged youth to advance academically.