Lunch Keynote Speaker Dr. Randal Pinkett #NewarkOpenForBusiness
Randal D. Pinkett is a business consultant who in
2005 was the winner of season four of the reality television show,
The Apprentice. Pinkett was the first
African American to win the US version of The Apprentice. Dr.
Randal Pinkett has established himself as an entrepreneur, speaker, author, scholar and community servant. He is the co-founder, chairman and
CEO of
BCT Partners, a multimillion dollar management, technology and policy consulting firm based in
Newark, NJ. BCT Partners works with corporations, government agencies and nonprofit organizations in the areas of housing and community development, economic development, human services, government, healthcare and education. A partial list of BCT's clients includes:
Johnson & Johnson,
Ford Foundation, Pfizer, the
U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development, Hewlett-Packard,
Annie E. Casey Foundation and
Microsoft.
Prior to founding BCT Partners, Dr. Pinkett obtained corporate experience as a
Member of Technical Staff at
General Electric,
AT&T; Bell Laboratories and
Lucent Technologies. A "serial entrepreneur", he also previously launched four socially responsible business ventures.
First, Dr. Pinkett co-founded
MBS Enterprises, selling compact discs and cassette tapes out of his dormitory in college and using the proceeds to fund high school outreach activities. MBS later evolved into his second venture, MBS Educational Services &
Training, a firm committed to providing the highest caliber training and development for emerging and seasoned professionals. MBS's past clients include
General Motors, the
United Negro College Fund, Exxon,
National Action Council for
Minorities in
Engineering (NACME),
Merck & Company,
Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, Johnson & Johnson,
PNC Bank, Citigroup and
Corning Incorporated.
Third, Dr. Pinkett co-founded the
Inner City Consulting
Group, a multi-disciplinary consulting firm that specialized in the unique needs of inner city communities.
Fourth, in affiliation with
One Economy, Dr. Pinkett co-founded
Access One
Corporation, with a mission to ensure that affordable housing was equipped for the
21st century by implementing innovative, sustainable, broadband network and telecommunications solutions. BCT Partners represents his fifth and latest business venture, whereas across all five of his companies and to this day, Dr. Pinkett has maintained a relationship as business partners with his close friends and college classmates,
Mr. Lawrence Hibbert, BCT's
Chief President; Mr.
Dallas Grundy, former BCT
Chief Operating Officer; and Dr.
Jeffrey Robinson,
Chair of BCT's
Advisory Board and
Professor at
New York University (
NYU).
A sought after public speaker for corporate, youth and community groups, Dr. Pinkett has been featured on nationally televised programs such as
The Today Show,
Live with Regis and Kelly, and
CNN, as well as featured in
Parade magazine,
The New York Times,
The Washington Post and
The Boston Globe. He was the
Season 4
Winner of
NBC's hit reality television The Apprentice with
Donald Trump. He served as an executive with
Trump Entertainment Resorts in
Atlantic City, NJ, where he was responsible for overseeing both renovation and information technology projects. He has re-appeared on The Apprentice as a boardroom advisor and is a regular segment host for CEO EXCHANGE on
PBS. He is a
Leadership New Jersey (
LNJ) Fellow, a
Next Generation Leadership (
NGL) Fellow of the
Rockefeller Foundation, and is a recipient of the
National Science Foundation's (
NSF)
Graduate Fellowship, Lucent Technologies
Cooperative Research Fellowship
Program (CRFP),
University of Oxford Graduate
Scholarship,
National Society of Black Engineers (
NSBE)
National Member of the Year,
Top 20 Scholars by
USA TODAY newspaper,
NCAA Academic All-American, NCAA
Walter Byers Graduate Scholarship, New Jersey
Martin Luther King Commemorative
Commission Triumph Award, and the
MIT Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award, from among a host of other recognition's and accolades. He is a proud brand ambassador for
Verizon Communications,
Outback Steakhouse, and the
Miller Urban Entrepreneurs
Series.