deborah grabein
Chief Practice Group Integration Officer at Hunton Andrews Kurth
Work Email: dgrabein@hunton.com
Personal Email: dgrabein@gmail.com
Deborah Grabein is a seasoned strategic marketing, communications, and business development executive. I have over 25 years of experience in leadership, management, professional sales and marketing in the legal industry and have pioneered many marketing and business development initiatives. What drives me is the desire to learn, to be successful and to elevate others to do the same.
What makes her unique
A pioneering spirit and a keen desire to win. Opportunities and challenges inspire me. Tell me something cannot be done and I’ll find a way to do it. Tell me something should be better and I’ll make it happen.
I’m a believer in a “rising tide raises all boats”, especially for women. The collective work of a team is far better when we have ideas and input from diverse experiences and capabilities.
Making a difference. Making an impact. That’s the legacy I want.
The projects that she loves
Anything involving learning. I’m a voracious reader, learner and student. Most of my younger years were spent in the local library reading, researching and pouring over anything the librarian thought I would enjoy. I had my own reading space in the librarian’s office where I could sit for hours reading, writing and thinking.
I thrive on change management, strategy and visioning. There is such an opportunity in today’s world to think differently about approaches to initiatives in work, community and even at home. And yes, I know that too much change is overwhelming and probably not always the smart way to approach a project. But, if we don’t look for the “new way of doing something,” we are doing ourselves and our clients a disservice.
Working smarter. Embracing technology and process. There are several major projects my team and I implemented in a law firm which enabled us to work smarter and more efficiently. Given the speed at which the world turns today, we need to consider every opportunity to think about systems to help us be more effective.
Opportunities to make a difference for all girls and women. My Mom’s journey to college began with women in her neighborhood collecting quarters and dimes to help her pay for tuition. Imagine the difference we can make if all of us thought about helping every girl and woman in her respective journey. I’ve been fortunate to create programs in several organizations to help lift women.
What makes her proud
Family. Profession. Community.
I’ve been married for 40 years and have two adult children who are married with children. My family has been such an advocate for me, especially when I was the VP of Communications for a start-up. My typical work week was 80+ hours and I traveled extensively. It was such an incredible experience to work in that environment, and I could not have done it without my family cheering me on.
I thought the best way to impact change was through politics and wanted to enter the political arena in D.C. However, fate choose otherwise and I landed in a law firm. I’ve spent most of my career in the legal profession and I am proud of the work I’ve done, the teams that I’ve built, and the successes that my teams and I created. I was fortunate to have terrific mentors who helped to open doors and guide me along the way.
Helping girls and women is paramount to the success of our businesses and communities. I’ve served as the Chair of the Women’s Business Alliance of the Greater Houston Partnership, currently serve on the Board of Family Houston and am the Chair of Development, and serve on the Advisory Committee of Girls Empowerment Network.