Pinkett, Randal

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Pinkett, Randal

1971—

Entrepreneur

Dr. Randal Pinkett has long been a man of impressive accomplishments. By 2001, he held five degrees including an M.B.A. and a Ph.D., led a multi-million dollar consulting firm, and was the recipient of enough awards to fill more than one wall of his sleek Newark, New Jersey, corner office. He was also a genuinely nice guy. As a college student he had made the needs of inner-city communities a priority in his research. As a business leader, he put his money where his heart was, founding a firm dedicated to promoting development in low-income communities. However, as he told NJ Biz, "The fact of the matter is, not withstanding my academic and professional background, the world didn't know about them." That all changed in December of 2005 when Pinkett was named the winner of The Apprentice, Donald Trump's smash hit television reality show. Pinkett became an instant celebrity, complete with television appearances, endorsement contracts, book deals, and invaluable exposure for his firm. According to his web site, Pinkett has led his life by the maxim, "to whom much is given, much is expected." With his reality TV fame, he planned on doing just that. "The opportunities brought to me, the lives of the people I hope to touch…it's just a blessing," he told The Black Collegian. "I really feel honored to be in this position because there are so few opportunities for business people to have that kind of reach. It's such a rare opportunity. It's just humbling."

Made Early Achievements in Academics

Randal Pinkett was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 9, 1971. Soon after, the Pinkett family moved to the predominantly white town of East Windsor, New Jersey, where Pinkett and his brother Dan were the only blacks in their schools. "Early on, it really wasn't an issue. It really wasn't noticeable, because we were all kids just playing together," Pinkett recalled to the on-line magazine Bean Soup Times. "But when I got a little older, particularly when I went to a high school that was also being fed from neighborhoods where there were larger percentages of African Americans, I started to notice that I was a little different from the brothers and sisters that came from those communities."

His father, Leslie, had attended the prestigious Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania, and Pinkett inherited formidable academic skills. He became a star student, scoring top marks in honors courses. "[Trying] to establish one's identity, as a smart, young black person, in a primarily white environment, there are aspects of who you are that are not well-accepted by everyone," he told Bean Soup Times. "To the white people, you're still black. To the black people, because you're in those AP and honors classes by yourself, that creates a distance, too." In Pinkett's senior year of high school his father died. In the wake of this tragedy, his mother Elizabeth assumed full responsibility for Pinkett and his brother, taking on two jobs to pay for her sons to attend college. Her example became a strong influence in his life. When asked for his greatest motivating factor in an interview with Essence, he replied, "My family. My mom has worked hard to raise my brother and me. I've always felt obligated to give back."

Following graduation from Hightstown High School, Pinkett entered Rutgers University to study electrical engineering. Again, he was a stellar student, landing a 3.9 GPA and graduating summa cum laude in 1994. He also served as the president of MEET, the Rutgers Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Six-foot-four and lean, Pinkett also made his mark in athletics, excelling in the high and long jumps. He eventually became captain of Rutgers' varsity men's track and field team and went on to win two awards for outstanding academic and athletic performance—the Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar Award from the magazine Black Issues in Higher Education and an NCAA Academic All-American Award.

Used His Doctorate to Create Social Entrepreneurship

Pinkett's greatest recognition for his work at Rutgers came about almost by chance. "After I finished my degree…," he told Bean Soup Press, "I was looking at two potential pathways, corporate America or grad school. So, I interviewed for some positions and filled out some school applications. I also applied for the Rhodes scholarship, which from my perspective was the least likely. As it turned out, I won, and was given the opportunity to study at Oxford." Pinkett became the first African American from Rutgers to be named a Rhodes Scholar, one of the world's most prestigious academic honors. Pinkett earned an MA in computer science at Oxford before returning to the states to pursue a doctorate in engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). However, MIT required that he earn a second master's in engineering before he could pursue the Ph.D. Rather than be discouraged, Pinkett not only pursued the second master's but did so in tandem with MIT's Sloan Business School, earning dual masters in electrical engineering and business administration in 1998.

Pinkett continued into the Ph.D. program choosing a thesis that would prove reflective of his commitment to society as well as science. Titled Creating Community Connections, it was the culmination of a three-year project to bring computers and high-speed internet access to residents of a low-income housing community in Boston. "I was really proud of that project," Pinkett told the Star-Ledger while recounting how an elderly woman, unable to leave her home due to illness, learned to use chat programs and email. "It opened up a whole new world for her," he said. In addition to his doctorate, the project earned Pinkett the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award from MIT in 2002.

At a Glance …

Born on April 9, 1971, in Philadelphia, PA; married Zahara Wadud-Pinkett. Education: Rutgers University, BS, electrical engineering, 1994; Oxford University, England, MA, computer science, 1996; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MA, electrical engineering,1998; MIT Sloan Business School, MBA, business administration, 1998; MIT, PhD, electrical engineering, 2001.

Career:

AT&T Bell Laboratories, technical staff, Murray Hill, NJ, 1993-95; Lucent Technologies, technical staff, Piscataway, NJ, 1997-98; MBS Educational Services and Training, president, East Windsor, NJ, 1997-2000; Inner City Consulting Group, co-founder and director of technology, Kansas City, MO, 2000-01; Access One Corporation, founder and consultant, Plainfield, NJ, 2001-04; BCT Partners Inc., president and CEO, Newark, NJ, 2001-.

Memberships:

National Society of Black Engineers, executive board; New Jersey Public Policy Research Institute, board of directors; Institute for African-American eCulture, member; Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network, board of directors; Institute for Innovation in Government Technology, chairperson; Community Technology Centers' Network, board of advisors; National Black MBA Association, member; Association of American Rhodes Scholars, member.

Awards:

Rhodes Scholar, The Rhodes Trust, 1994; National Member of the Year, National Society of Black Engineers, 1994; Triumph Award, New Jersey Martin Luther King Commemorative Commission, 2001; Rockefeller Next Generation Leadership Program Fellowship, 2002; Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award, MIT, 2002; African-American Alumni Alliance Hall of Fame, Rutgers University, 2005; Winner, The Apprentice, NBC, 2005.

Addresses:

Office—BCT Partners, 105 Lock St, Newark, NJ, 07103.

Though Pinkett earned corporate experience in the engineering departments of General Electric, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and Lucent Technologies while still in school, he also became a "serial entrepreneur" as stated on his web site. While still an undergraduate student, he founded MBS Enterprises, which sold CDs to fellow students. Pinkett diverted much of the profits into out-reach programs at local high schools. Eventually, the business became MBS Educational Services and Training, an educational consulting firm for professionals. Next, he founded Inner City Consulting Group, which specialized in providing multi-disciplinary consulting to meet the needs of inner city communities. Finally, Pinkett co-founded Access One Corporation, an initiative to bring affordable telecommunications solutions to low-income housing. Each venture was a reflection of Pinkett's commitment to social entrepreneurship, seeking what he called on his web site the "double bottom-line"—financial and social returns.

Bolstered His Business by Becoming an Apprentice

In 2001, Pinkett founded BCT Partners (Building Community through Technology), a Newark, New Jersey-based consultancy which advises corporate clients, non-profit organizations, and government agencies on issues of development in minority and low-income communities. During an entrepreneurship speech in Mississippi, the Northeast MS Daily Journal quoted Pinkett as saying that BCT started "with nothing, absolutely nothing. It started with Ramen noodles," referring to the staple diet of poor college students. By 2005, that had changed. BCT was pulling in multimillion dollar figures and had a corporate who's who of clients including Johnson & Johnson, Hewlett-Packard, and the Ford Foundation. Those who knew him were not surprised. "He's very driven, very focused, very efficient, very articulate," Lawrence Hibbert, of BCT told The Star-Ledger. He added, "He understands how to build businesses, how to sniff out opportunities."

Pinkett found the biggest opportunity of his life when his wife Zahara suggested he apply to compete on Donald Trump's NBC reality show The Apprentice. Though initially reluctant to apply, "The more I thought about it, the more I said, ‘win or lose, this will be a great way to showcase my abilities on a nationally televised program,’" he told the Black Collegian. Of over a million applicants, Pinkett was one of 18 chosen for the fourth season of the show. Over the season's run, they competed in a variety of project management and leadership tasks in a bid to win a one-year contract and six-figure salary from Trump. Pinkett landed a perfect score executing his three projects—a high-tech expo at a senior citizen home, a celebrity fundraiser, and a marketing campaign for a new perfume. He also managed to win the respect of his competitors with his level-headedness, fairness, and solid business skills. It worked. In a live television broadcast before millions of viewers, Trump said "Randal, you're an amazing leader. Rarely have I seen a leader as good as you, and you lead through niceness," as quoted by The Star-Ledger. Trump then issued his famous line: "You're hired."

Despite some negative fallout after Pinkett told Trump that he didn't believe the second-runner up should be crowned a co-apprentice, the response to his appearance on the show was phenomenal. At the time he told NJ Biz, that the win offered "a mentor-mentee relationship, not just an employer-employee one. I think Mr. Trump looks at the apprentices more as up-and-coming peers than he does as direct reports." He was right. After successfully completing his one-year contract overseeing a $110 million dollar facelift of Trump's three Atlantic City casinos, he was retained by the Trump organization as a consultant, spokesperson, and teacher. His win also landed him a book contract and lucrative speaking engagements on the theme of entrepreneurship. "Entrepreneurship is the only way to achieve true wealth and economic empowerment," he told Black Enterprise. "There are limits to achieving wealth by working for someone else." To that end, Pinkett has used his newfound celebrity to further grow BCT Partners. He saw no limits to his success, telling the Star Ledger that he envisioned "running a multibillion-dollar organization." Considering the amazing success he has already had, there is little reason to doubt he will achieve anything less.