Mission
The Mary McLeod Bethune Educational Legacy Foundation, Inc. was established in 2002.   The mission of Mary McLeod Bethune™ Educational Legacy is to "Educate to Serve".  It is our responsibility to challenge people to use their God-given talents to improve their families, their institutions, and their communities.  It is our goal to inspire people to lead, to learn throughout their lives, and to leave something greater than what they found as a resource.  Each generation must add value for the next.  Our mission is to do the work according to God's plan so that service to others becomes as natural as breathing.

Vision
It is the vision of the Mary McLeod Bethune™ Educational Legacy, Inc. that African Americans be self-supporting individuals.  That was also the vision of Dr. Bethune as she promoted ownership of property and investments in black owned businesses such as Atlanta Life Insurance Company, The Pittsburgh Courier Newspaper, Bethune-Volusia Beach Development, etc. 

Board of Directors

Dr. Evelyn Bethune
CEO, Mary McLeod Bethune Educational Legacy Foundation

Dr. Evelyn Bethune is the granddaughter of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, educator, activist, advisor to three United States Presidents, community care giver and international peace advocate.  She grew up in an environment that demanded awareness of world issues and participation in the solution to these issues.

Dr. Bethune is a member of the NAACP, National Council of Negro Women, N’COBRA and many professional development organizations.  Her expansive background includes professional experience as a Budget Planner for IBM in the manufacturing of the PC in Boca Raton, Florida, Auditor for the Department of Insurance, State of Florida, Revenue Agent for the Department of Revenue in the State of Florida, and CEO for The Mary McLeod Bethune Family Legacy Foundation, Inc.

For more than 10 years Dr. Evelyn Bethune has shown all who have come in contact with her, how to swim upstream. She has taken adversity as motivation and led others out of the darkness and into the light of freedom. In 1994 Evelyn was convicted of a felony after losing a long legal battle that would attempt to cost her not just money but a part of her life, her dignity. You see, once the court decides that you are guilty, people you thought were friends do too and strangers many times don’t even give consideration to circumstances. Enemies that wish to block your path will use your past in an attempt to discredit you for “Society is neither forgiving nor forgetful and any mistake, if not a lesson learned, becomes a repeat occurrence.” It is hard for the average person to recover from incrimination but even more difficult for a person attached to a well know, historical icon.  Dr. Evelyn Idell Bethune is the granddaughter of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and CEO of the Mary McLeod Bethune Educational Legacy Foundation, Inc. which was founded by the grandchildren of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune to ensure the continuation, growth and development of her legacy of encouraging and promoting education and community service in a variety of platforms.

Since the court decision in 1994, Evelyn has spent very little time feeling sorry for herself and has used her experiences to help others in need get on tract with their own lives. Her story is one of faith and determination. Her example is one of triumph over adversity. She believes that God directs our path and uses us by the lives we live and the stories thereof we live to tell. She believes that her story can help change the lives of those who feel they can’t achieve for whatever the reason. Instead of hiding the details, she speaks about them to encourage others.

Strengthened by her faith in God and the blood of her lineage, Evelyn has served as president of the Houston Area Chapter of the Bethune Cookman College Alumni Association, actively working to promote Bethune-Cookman University and recruit students on any given opportunity. Presently, serving locally as a two term elected member of the Board of Directors for Pacifica Radio LSB, KPFT Radio, Houston and was re-elected for her second term on the National Board of Pacifica Foundation.

She served as Co-Director of the Youth Empowerment Committee of the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce, in 2008 was elected President of the Elease Knight Section, NCNW Houston and is a lecturer and motivational speaker, sharing personal insights and life lessons as well as speaking on the life of her grandmother Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. As a very active member of the Outreach Missionary Baptist Church, Houston, TX, under the brilliant leadership of Dr. Leonard L. Favorite, Evelyn served as organizing Director of the after school program Center for Educational Development at Outreach Missionary Baptist Church, which opened in August of 2007.

Dr. Evelyn Bethune states “At the very core of the work of my head, heart and hands, stands the inspiring, awesome, far-reaching legacy of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, touching every volunteer, every vendor, every contractor, every customer, every product and every service provided by the Mary McLeod Bethune Educational Legacy Foundation, Inc. Our purpose is to empower and to take the legacy of a great woman to the next level. Everything we do has a direct relationship to the faith-based concept of “educate to serve.” Education is our center of gravity. Education is our point of departure and our ultimate destination.” It is Dr. Bethune's belief that with every successful plan there must be faith, that “God at Work” belief that God loves us and has a divine plan for our lives. With this faith, we receive education. The purpose of true education is to teach you to serve your community and your fellow man and in serving, find your purpose.

Dr. Evelyn Bethune has published articles in the Atlanta Business Journal, the Journal of Gerontology, and (a study on the “Differences in Access to Healthcare for rural and urban Elderly African American Women versus that of elderly Caucasian Women”).She also served as a member of the Academic Advisory Committee for the Houston International Festival 2008, “Out of Africa” and producer of the Forward into Freedom exhibit and listening stations.

God, Family and Community are the priorities that she sets in a life filled with faith and belief in her fellow man. No weapon formed against me shall prosper.