Dr. Randal Pinkett stands out in a crowd. Literally--he must be 6' 6" or something--but also figuratively; he's the President and CEO of a company he founded, BCT Partners, he holds five academic degrees from places like Oxford and MIT, and while he could probably name his price if he were working in the private sector, he's chosen to work primarily with nonprofits and other public institutions, helping them with management, technology and policy issues.
And for such a big shot, he's a really nice guy, too. So it was great to hear from him on just how you wind up with that many diplomas, technology in the social services, the Ars Portalis project, and track and field...
1) You probably have more advanced degrees than anyone I've met in the nonprofit technology field (or any other field, for that matter.) What kept drawing you back to grad school, and how has that experience affected your professional endeavors?
I indeed have a number of advanced degrees. To be specific, I have five advanced degrees: Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University in Electrical Engineering; Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Oxford, England, as a Rhodes Scholar; and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, MBA and Ph.D. from MIT.
The truth of the matter is that I never intended, nor necessarily desired to obtain five degrees. Although I must say that each degree has been an asset to my career, and the five degrees continue to be a great conversation piece! I graduated from Rutgers and traveled to Oxford not only to experience life overseas as a Rhodes Scholar, but also to pursue a D.Phil. (the British equivalent of the Ph.D.). Halfway through my second year at Oxford it was clear that my professional goals would be better served by pursuing a Ph.D. in the United States, so I completed that year, which earned me a Masters degree. After contacting MIT (where I had already been accepted as a senior at Rutgers) to discuss these plans, I was informed that despite the fact that I held a masters degree, I would have to complete additional, requisite coursework at MIT in order to take the Ph.D. qualifying examination. This basically meant that I would have to complete a second masters degree. Fortunately, MIT also offered a program, the Leaders for Manufacturing Program (LFM), that would allow me to earn an MBA, in addition to a masters in electrical engineering, without losing any time.
So, I enrolled in the LFM program and earned two masters degrees in just two years. I subsequently enrolled in the Ph.D. Program at the MIT Media Laboratory, which I completed in three years, and the rest is history! Suffice it to say that my graduate work laid the perfect foundation for becoming an entrepreneur. The combination of business and technology expertise that I obtained, as well as the subject matter expertise in information technology, organizational development, community technology and community development, set the stage for establishing BCT Partners.
2) Your company occupies an unusual niche: Although I think of you as a technologist, your company's services also encompass housing, community development, and education, and it appears that you're planning to expand into social services and economic development as well. Having spent much of my early career in social services, I tend to think of that field as somewhat techno-phobic. Are these fields actually embracing technology today?
BCT Partners is a management, technology and policy consulting firm that works with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, corporations and foundations. We specialize in the following industries/sectors: housing and community development, economic development, human services, nonprofit and community technology and education. These fields have indeed been historically slow to embrace technology. However, over the past decade we have witnessed an increasing level of awareness and appreciation amongst practitioners for the value of technology toward achieving better outcomes in these arenas. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to hear community leaders making reference to wireless networks and PDAs and sector-specific software applications in reference to their work. So, while there is still more work to do, these fields have come a very long way.
3) During the dot-com bubble, the nonprofit technology field saw the rise and fall of a number of ambitious projects that ultimately had a short shelf-life. You were involved with the Ars Portalis project, which "tackled a range of practical challenges and opportunities facing community networks." What value did experimental projects like Ars Portalis ultimately contribute, and should the nonprofit sector continue to invest in such efforts?
The Ars Portalis project was organized by the Center for Civic Networking under a contract from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunities Program (TOP; formerly TIIAP). "Ars Portalis" literally translated means "the arts of the city gates". The project was named in recognition of the fact that in the age of the Internet, our "boundaries are electronic [and] the art of community networking is evolving into a practice that uses the Internet creatively to help communities better define themselves, as the city gates of old had done" (Community Technology Review, Summer/Fall 2001). One of the central themes of the project was to ask leading practitioners to compete in a cluster of small, short-term studies to sharpen understanding of key sustainability issues facing community networks.
My project involved analyzing data from interviews with residents of a recently renovated‹and resident owned‹affordable housing development in Roxbury, MA, on their use of a prototype community networking software application called the "Creating Community Connections (C3)" system. The C3 system incorporated a suite of modules that could be useful in a variety of settings relevant to many community-based organizations such as CTCs and community networks.
To my knowledge, the Department of Commerce never released the findings from the projects, which certainly diminished their potential value (my project did make for what I thought was a valuable Ph.D. thesis!). However, I do believe there was value in the overall project, and that the civil and public sectors should invest in similar projects. These kinds of efforts encourage the very experimentation and risk taking that can ultimately lead to more innovative and sustainable approaches. There is an ongoing need to invest wisely R&D. This is perhaps an even greater imperative as it relates to investing in R&D that can lead to innovation and sustainability.
Bonus Personal Question: You were an NCAA Academic All-American in Track and Field for Rutgers. Although I ran track at a much less exalted level, the experience shaped me in a very deep way. What's your best memory of athletic competition?
As an undergraduate at Rutgers University, I served as captain of the men's track and field team. I competed as a high jumper, long jumper and, on certain occasions when they absolutely needed a fourth person for the 4x100 relay, a sprinter. My best memory of athletic competition was actually in high school. I attended Hightstown High School in the Hightstown-East Windsor area of New Jersey. At the county track and field championships, I was in a heated battle in the long jump competition with my crosstown arch-rival, Steve Flythe, from neighboring West Windsor-Plainsboro High School in West Windsor, New Jersey. It rained all day, which made for miserable jumping conditions. Nonetheless, throughout the qualifying round and the final round I was ahead of Steve and in first place. Going into the last round of jumps it appeared that I was certain to win. However, on Steve's last jump he surprisingly moved into first! This left me with just one final jump to beat him, move back into first, and win the championship.
To help me focus, my coach decided to stand to the side of the long jump pit at about the distance I would need to jump in order to win. I took off my rain gear, walked onto field, and ran down the wet runway. With all of what I had left, I leaped off the wooden long jump board and landed in the pit at approximately where my coach was standing. In fact, it was so close that neither I nor my coach could tell if it was enough. I looked at him with uncertainty. He looked at me with uncertainty. Then we both looked at the long jump official for the exact distance. It seemed like it took foreverto measure the distance with the measuring tape. When the official announced my distance, it was 3/4 of an inch better than Steve and I won! That is definitely one of my best memories of track competition.
Steve's mom and my mom both attend the same church nowadays. I saw her last year at the church's annual summer cookout and she told me that she and Steve are still hurting from that loss. Notwithstanding my activities on the track and on the field, I also have a number of great memories stemming from the camaraderie, friendship, fellowship and teamwork I experienced while competing with the other members of the men's and women's team at Rutgers. Many of my former teammates are still, to this day, among my lifelong friends.
