Biography

Dr. Randal Pinkett has established himself as an entrepreneur, speaker, author, scholar and community servant, and one of the leading voices for his generation in business and technology. He is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of BCT Partners, a multimillion-dollar research, consulting, training, technology and analytics firm based in Newark, New Jersey. BCT Partners mission is to provide insights about diverse people that lead to equity. BCT works with corporations, government agencies and nonprofit organizations in the areas of housing and community development, economic development, children and families, health, education, diversity and inclusion, and energy. A partial list of BCT's clients includes: Johnson & Johnson, Ford Foundation, Pfizer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Annie E. Casey Foundation, Citigroup, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Hewlett-Packard, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Facebook 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, ExxonMobil, 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, Mr. Dallas Grundy, and Dr. Jeffrey Robinson.

A sought after public speaker for corporate, government, collegiate, philanthropic, youth and community groups, Dr. Pinkett has been featured on nationally televised programs such as The Today Show, Fox Business News, MSNBC, 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, having been selected as one of 18 candidates chosen from among 1 million applicants to compete for this opportunity. He re-appeared on The Apprentice as a boardroom advisor and was 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 Information Technology Senior Management Forum’s (ITSMF) Beacon Award, National Urban League’s Business Excellence Award, 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) Entrepreneur of the Year  Award and National Member of the Year Award, , CoSIDA/NCAA Academic All-America Hall of Fame Inductee, NCAA Walter Byers Graduate Scholarship, New Jersey Martin Luther King Commemorative Commission Triumph Award, MIT Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award, and he was named one of the top 20 scholars in the country by USA TODAY newspaper, from among a host of other recognitions and accolades. He has served as a brand ambassador for AMTRAK, Verizon Communications, Outback Steakhouse, and the MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneurs Series. In 2009, he was named to New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine’s official shortlist as a potential running mate for Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey.

Dr. Pinkett holds five academic degrees including the following: Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, that he completed with a 3.9 GPA while serving as President of MEET, the Rutgers Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and Captain of the Rutgers University Varsity Men's Track and Field team competing as a high jumper and long jumper; Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Computer Science from Oxford University, England as a Rhodes Scholar; Master of Science (S.M.) in Electrical Engineering from the MIT School of Engineering and Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the MIT Sloan School of Management as a participant in the MIT Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) Program; and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from the MIT Media Laboratory. Most notably, Dr. Pinkett made history as the first African-American ever to receive a Rhodes Scholarship at Rutgers University.

A published author and academic scholar, Dr. Pinkett's first book, Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur's Guide to Launching a Multimillion-Dollar Business, was released in February 2007. That same year he also released the audio book, The No-Money Down CEO: How to Start Your Dream Business with Little or No Cash. Along with his Rutgers roommate and business partner, Dr. Jeffrey Robinson, he is the co-author of Black Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find Greatness in 2008, and the forthcoming Black Faces in High Places. In addition to more than 20 papers and articles Dr. Pinkett has authored chapters in five books including: Managing IT/Community Partnerships in the 21st Century; Journey to the Ph.D.: How to Navigate the Process as African-Americans; Community Practice in the Network Society: Local Action/Global Interaction; The Network Society: A Cross-cultural Perspective; and Universal Usability: Designing Computer Interfaces for Diverse User Populations. His master's thesis at the University of Oxford was entitled, "Hardware/Software Co-Design and Digital Speech Processing." His master's thesis at MIT was entitled, "Product Development Process Modeling and Analysis of Digital Wireless Telephones." His doctoral dissertation at MIT was entitled, "Creating Community Connections: Sociocultural Constructionism and an Asset-Based Approach to Community Technology and Community Building in a Low-Income Community."

Dr. Pinkett maintains an active involvement in community service as well as active memberships in his fraternity and other civic and professional organizations. He is a proud lifetime member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and past member of the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), and the Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF). He is a past national spokesperson for Autism Speaks, the National Black MBA Association (Gold Key Access events), New Jersey Reads ("Change a Life Through Literacy" campaign) and Junior Achievement of New York (Groundhog Job Shadow Day program). BCT Partners does considerable work with community-based organizations and his doctoral dissertation at MIT examined the role of high technology in improving the quality of life for low-income residents. He is a founding board member of the Minority Information Technology Consortium (MITC), past member of the Board of Directors for the New Jersey Public Policy Research Institute (NJPPRI), the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (N-TEN), the National Visionary Leadership Project (NVLP), and the Institute for Innovation in Government Technology (IIGT), and a past member of the Board of Advisors for the Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet).

Born in Philadelphia, PA, as the son of the Late Leslie Pinkett and Elizabeth Pinkett, Dr. Pinkett was raised in East Windsor, NJ, along with his brother, Dan, a manager at Prudential Insurance Company. He is an active member of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey, where he resides with his family including a daughter and two sons. He firmly believes that "for those to whom much is given, much is expected," so throughout his endeavors he places great emphasis on his desire to give back to the community.