Brown has been employed with Malcolm Pirnie, a century-old environmental consulting firm, for seven years. As a project manager, her team has won major awards, including one from the New York Association of Civil Engineers. AGE: 28
KENNETH H. FEARN JR., Founder & Managing Partner INTEGRATED CAPITAL L.L.C.
Why he’s hot: Kenneth Fearn is making his mark on the real estate front by raising capital from institutions and individual investors to acquire hotels. In 2004, his firm, Integrated Capital L.L.C., purchased two California Doubletree Hotels for a combined price of $40 million. Los Angeles-based Integrated Capital expanded its reach in 2005 by buying a third hotel, a Marriott Residence Inn in Columbia, Maryland, for an undisclosed amount. The Doubletree hotels have 520 guestrooms in total and the Marriott Residence Inn Hotels have 238 guestrooms. Fearn says Integrated has purchased $100 million in assets since its inception and is in the process of raising $200 million in equity commitments. Prior to founding Integrated Capital, Fearn was a managing director and CFO at Maritz, Wolff and Co., a private equity real estate firm. AGE: 39
NJEMA FRAZIER, Physicist NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Why she’s hot: Brought to our attention by the National Society of Black Engineers, Njema Frazier manages the code and model development for nuclear weapons simulations. Serving as a federal manager within the Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing, she has purview over the Integrated Codes and Physics and Engineering Models program. She oversees a budget of $200 million and ranks among senior-level management reporting quarterly to the deputy administrator for defense programs in NNSA. What’s next? Plenty, but it’s top-secret, for now. AGE: 35
ANTOINE FUQUA, Film Director, Producer FUQUA FILMS
Why he’s hot: One of the few African Americans to direct a motion picture with a $100 million budget, the Training Day film director is setting up his Fuqua Films banner at 20th Century Fox. The studio, which pursues few exclusive pacts with directors, has given him an exclusive one-year production deal and a one-year option to renew. He sealed the deal with his solid contributions to the drama pilot Murder Book for Fox Broadcasting and the reputation he built over the last several years as director of The Replacement Killers, starring Chow Yun Fat; Tears of the Sun with Bruce Willis; and the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced King Arthur. Next up: the action-packed thriller By Any Means Necessary. AGE: 39
RICHARD C. GAY, Senior VP, Strategy & Business Operations VH1 AND CMT COUNTRY MUSIC TV
Why he’s hot: Millions of people view Richard Gay’s work daily. He’s the business strategist behind VH1 and CMT: Country Music Television, reaching 86 million and 77 million viewers, respectively. He also oversees VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, and VHUno digital channels. “I deal with budgets, long-range planning initiatives and opportunities, as well as day-to-day operations,” says Gay, a former partner at the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. He recently orchestrated a deal with Wal-Mart to market and promote country music singer Toby Keith and brokered a cross-promotion arrangement between VH1 and