She Took Over Her Family’s 114-Year-Old Construction Company and Turned It Into a $50 Million Powerhouse
Steadily finding ways to excel in the $1.2 trillion construction industry, Cheryl McKissack Daniel is using her business savvy to equip New York-based McKissack & McKissack, the oldest black construction company (and No. 64 on the Top 100 list of the nation’s largest black businesses—the BE 100s—with $50 million in revenues), for future growth. As such, her company is a freshman among the BE 100s.
McKissack Daniel became the company’s fifth-generation owner, president, and CEO in 2000. Now, she is ready to take the nation’s oldest minority and woman-owned design and construction firm to higher ground. The 114-year-old company mainly provides construction management services to municipalities, major companies, and government agencies operating largely in the infrastructure, transit, healthcare, and education sectors.
Driven to build upon the family business legacy, McKissack Daniel is clearly attuned to the struggles of her ancestors who had to overcome an inhospitable environment (the family’s beginnings in the building trade began during slavery) as well as their achievements that have propelled the firm to its current status. She maintains that the continuation of the firm’s growth is vital for the creation of jobs and wealth-building opportunities in the black communities where her firm’s projects are located.
On Track to Make $30 Million in Six Years
McKissack & McKissack is currently working on more than 55 projects mainly in New York and Pennsylvania. Its largest undertaking is serving as project manager of the $8 billion JFK International Airport Terminal One redevelopment in New York City. Moreover, McKissack Daniel’s company is teaming with notable firms like Magic Johnson Enterprises and Loop Capital (a top black-owned investment bank) to engage in infrastructure work on the project expected to be completed in 2025. McKissack Daniel estimates her firm’s take will be conservatively about $30 million over the next six years.
In addition, her company is also serving as an independent engineer for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) Capital Budget Program. It will provide operational audits for 50 large projects as part of the agency’s $32 billion capital budget to help enhance its massive transit system. McKissack Daniel says the contract will produce an $80 million fee paid to her firm over a seven-year period. Future growth plans call for pursuing new work at Terminal Six at JFK Airport and an estimated $30 billion rail tunnel project linking New York and New Jersey called the Gateway Terminal.
McKissack Daniel says an ongoing challenge is gaining access to large contracts as a prime contractor. “We still have to really force that issue and break into more private sector work with Fortune 100 companies,” she says. “We need to continue to win mega-projects as a prime contractor.”
In another venture, McKissack Daniel’s firm is investing $100,000 in Legacy Engineering, a new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing startup that will target government, private corporations, and cultural centers among its clients. “We are really building this firm to assist black engineering entrepreneurs to become their own business owners.”
—Editors’ note: This article originally appeared in the Summer 2019 edition of Black Enterprise Magazine. Order the magazine today.
Detroit’s Youngest Entrepreneur Has Been Doing Business for Nearly a Decade
Being named the youngest entrepreneur in the city of Detroit comes with a lot of notoriety and responsibility. BLACK ENTERPRISE’s 2019 Teenpreneur of the Year, Asia Newson, 16, takes great pride in it. By the age of 4, Newson was learning how to make candles with her father while her older siblings were at school and mother was at work. And by the time she was 5, she began to sell them with her dad.
“We would go door to door and sell candles. He taught me a pitch—and we would sell people candles at their homes. I was making a lot of money!” says Newson.
Soon after, Newson decided that she didn’t want to just sell candles, so she founded Super Business Girl. Newson shared the idea with her parents and her mother, LaTasha, who also serves as the president of her company, decided to create a community around the work that they were doing to help other black girls become bosses. And from that idea, the Super Business Girl Youth Entrepreneurs Workshops was born.
During the workshops, participants are paired with mentors, learn how to craft a sales pitch, and how to improve their communication. They also get hands-on instruction on how to make candles.
“With the candles that they make, we go outside and I assign kids to their mentors and we start selling candles. Once it’s over, we come back to my office and we talk about the experience; what we learned, and what we could have done better,” says Newson. As a result of the workshop, participants make money and gain sales experience.
Newson’s entrepreneurial work has landed her on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, America’s Got Talent, Disney World’s Cinderella Castle stage, MSNBC, 20/20, ABC News, and NPR. And with all of her accolades, she is thrilled to add one more award to her trophy case.
“It feels great to be Teenpreneur of the Year and be a role model!” exclaims Newson.
-Editors’ note: This article originally appeared in the Summer 2019 edition of Black Enterprise Magazine. Order the magazine today.
New NCAA ‘Rich Paul’ Rule Disempowers Black Athletes and Rigs Rules In Favor Of Elite Agencies
Black professional athletes have leveraged more control over their careers, staff, political activities, and personal brands this last decade than perhaps ever before. That is why the NCAA’s reformed agent criteria—dubbed the “Rich Paul Rule”—is an especially heinous attempt to disempower athletes, create barriers to entry for black agents, and promote an ‘old boys’ discriminatory agent culture. The new NCAA rule announced Tuesday requires agents to obtain a bachelor’s degree, have three years certification in the National Basketball Players Association, procure professional liability insurance, and pass a certification exam administered once a year in Indianapolis, Indiana. The new rule has been slammed by professional athletes and would exclude Rich Paul, a Cleveland, Ohio, outsider most known for guiding LeBron James’ famous “Decision” and later return to Ohio, from doing any new business with future draftees.
Make no mistake, this rule is specifically designed to end Rich Paul’s business and legacy and prevent future outsiders from spoiling profit for a limited, elite group of agents. Paul first met LeBron James in an airport when his day job mostly consisted of selling jerseys out of his trunk. The two built a mutually trusting relationship and Paul ultimately became LeBron’s agent to the dismay of several industry insiders. Paul formed Klutch Sports and grew his enterprise from securing $20M contracts in 2013 to a cumulative $625M in 2019, subsequently ranking him in the top three in total client wages. This is especially impressive in a world where not one black agent leads any of the top 10 sports agencies.
LeBron James (Instagram/KingJames)
While a college degree is an important individual milestone and a rightful prerequisite for many jobs, several careers in the future economy —like coding—do not require a bachelor’s degree. Google and Apple, for instance, declared applicants need not have a bachelor’s degree to compete for jobs. Further, neither Steve Jobs nor Mark Zuckerberg earned degrees and became two of the most transformative innovators in tech history.
So why then would the NCAA institute such a restrictive rule when the new economy is going in a different direction?
The new agent criteria suggest the NCAA wishes to preserve its own interests and buffer the pockets of a select few, while simultaneously limiting professional athletes’ ability to exert significant influence over their own economic and brand outcomes. Athletes are increasingly aware of this conflict, as evidenced by the 2011 player lockout when the NBA worked to extinguish collective bargaining and player demands for revenue sharing. That is exactly why some minority professional athletes look to agents like Paul who unapologetically states that his job is to “do what’s best for my client.”
Doing what’s best for the client has not always been the modus operandi of the sports world.
Historically, professional sports organizations have exhausted black athletic talent and denied them access to front office positions, as detailed by William C. Roden in his seminal $40 Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Black Athletes (2006). Moreover, labor economists Lawrence Kahn and Peter Sher found black NBA players earned 20% less than white athletes in the 1980s. This decade alone, over 60% of NBA athletes go broke within five years of retirement. The history and data show the agency industry and NCAA has done little to protect the long-term interests of players, despite claims the bachelor’s degree requirement will increase integrity and professionalism.
Rising displays of black player agency, from LeBron’s “Decision” to Colin Kaepernick’s kneel, signal a turning point in the way black athletes view their power, influence, and economic capability. It only makes sense the old guard would work aggressively to limit any disruption to its status quo. Professional athletes and those who find inspiration, hope, and entertainment from these players have to raise their voices and organize in opposition, even if it means some temporary sacrifice. As Frederick Douglass said, “power concedes nothing without a demand,” and this power must be shared equally and with equity.
The ideas and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author’s and not necessarily the opinion of Black Enterprise.
How Black-Owned Businesses Can Profit From Strategic Partnerships with Corporate America
Unlike no other business era, major companies have earmarked, in some cases, billions, to design high-profile programs that will provide procurement and business development opportunities to entrepreneurs of color. Moreover, these companies are seeking to create a series of long-term partnerships—most notably with CEOs and founders that represent the BE 100s, the largest black-owned businesses in the nation—to receive benefits ranging from cross-sector entrepreneurial innovation to access to a burgeoning multi generational customer base. However, firms like yours can benefit through such strategic alliances.
This post is the first in a series on how major corporations are working with African American firms and organizations for mutual benefit and impact. As part of this special report, our editors have identified corporate giants that have decided to move forward on this thrust. In fact, since the beginning of this year, BE has traversed the nation to witness such initiatives from AT&T, JPMorgan Chase, Delta Airlines, and Koch Industries.
AT&T
Take AT&T. With the $67 billion acquisition of DirecTV in 2015 and $104 billion purchase of Time Warner last year, it has been redefined as a global multimedia content and distribution colossus, which means it offers boundless openings for a universe of enterprising vendors. In fact, earlier this year, corporate senior leaders announced its commitment to spend $3 billion with black suppliers across the U.S. by 2020. This initiative came on the heels of the 50th anniversary of its supplier diversity program started in 1968, contracting more than $158 billion with companies owned by minorities, women, service-disabled veterans, and those within the LGBTQ+ community.
In making the announcement, AT&T revealed that the program’s focus on the economic expansion of diverse companies and communities has three pillars: supplier spend and utilization; job creation and force impact; and business development, advocacy, and Tier-2 supplier advancement. Now, supply chain officials seek engagement with black entrepreneurs in invitation-only settings as well as major events like Black Enterprise’s FWD conference for startup and established business owners recently held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Moreover, the company has established an Executive Advisory Council composed of black business leaders to provide guidance in reaching this goal.
The current environment also represents a prime time for black entrepreneurs due to the new, corporate-minded leadership at minority business advocacy organizations. For instance, Adrienne Trimble, former general manager, Diversity & Inclusion for Toyota Motor North America, came aboard last year as president and CEO of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, the leading supplier diversity and inclusion organization that matches more than 12,000 certified minority-owned businesses to its network of 1,750-plus corporate members. And retired DuPont Chief Procurement Officer Shelley Stewart earlier this year was elected chairman of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, the top-level organization that promotes corporate supplier diversity best practices, to help reset its strategic direction.
With these new developments, black-owned businesses must be prepared to take advantage of this moment. Certification and capacity building, among other measures, are a must.
-Editors’ note: This article originally appeared in the Summer 2019 edition of Black Enterprise Magazine. Order the magazine today.
New Reality Show Mines Family Albums for Black History
Marcus Garvey once said that “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” If you’re scratching your head wondering who Marcus Garvey is, then you’re in need of a black history lesson, and you might start by watching the PBS debut of Family Pictures USA on PBS Aug. 12 and 13.
The brainchild of filmmaker and artist Thomas Allen Harris, Family Pictures USA is the latest outgrowth of an award-winning body of work from this director who has always been driven by a desire to bring the largely hidden and neglected history of black people in America into the light.
An entirely new type of reality show, this new television series reconstructs the histories of resilient communities such as Detroit and Durham, North Carolina, through the memories of longtime residents and the treasured family photographs they share.
Black History Narratives
The result is a compelling and educational show that highlights not only individual family stories, but the weaving together of those stories over the course of generations into the history of a larger community, a city, its economy, its culture, and its hopes. The show stands apart for its simple elegance and narratives that, unlike most reality shows, don’t feel contrived.
When the descendants of Frank Wall, a second-generation Duke University janitor who bequeathed $100 to the school for use in the advancement of black men, share their photos and memories alongside the descendants of George Washington Duke, the white tobacco industrialist for whom Duke University is named, the history of those families, the city of Durham, and its most famous institutions, takes on a whole new meaning.
(Family Pictures USA/Flickr)
Centered on pictures of people who are long dead, the storytelling of their descendants is very much alive, honest, and intimate and Family Pictures USA’s approach to mining these stories also stands apart for its inclusiveness. Says Harris, simply, “You can’t tell American history without including African American history.”
While Harris, who teaches film and African American History at Yale, is always motivated in part by a desire to educate, he admits to being surprised by how much he learns in doing the show. “The stories of black business people who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps that you never heard about or had an image for were pretty amazing. The series helped me understand how towns were formed and how they developed and how people of means and employers shaped culture and people’s lives.”
Breaking Down Stereotypes in Country’s Current Political Tone
Harris, who stepped out from behind the camera to host the series, says it has been the most financially ambitious project he’s directed to date. Leveraging the success of his 2014 award-winning documentary, Through the Lens, Darkly, he and his partners raised $2.3 million largely through grants from the Ford Foundation and others. PBS, which is eager to compete more dynamically with other networks, invested about $250,000. A small network of high net worth African American businesspeople also contributed. In order to complete the series, Harris is still looking to close a $125,000 gap.
Harris, a Harvard graduate who began his career in public television, first produced award-winning shows in his native New York for WNET. He says that even 30 years later, raising money for new film projects remains a challenge.
Thomas Allen Harris (Family Pictures USA)
“Artists are used to networking with other artists, but I don’t know if we’re used to networking with people who think radically differently than we do, who may be business or finance people,” he says. No matter what your background is, to successfully finance a project, Harris adds, “You have to be able to tolerate rejection without any kind of resentment. Persistence and finding those sweet spots of commonality are key.”
Family Pictures USA certainly offers those sweet spots. Especially given the tone of the country as the 2020 election nears; Harris says he hopes the show will help break down the stereotypes and other barriers that divide us, and that through the show’s all-inclusive spectrum of photos, we will come to see ourselves in each other more and lean more into our commonalities.
As he says in a promo, “Once you see our history through family pictures, you’ll never see this country the same way again.”
The Story of Emmett Till’s Mother is Coming to ABC, Thanks to Jay-Z and Will Smith
Following a five-year delay, the story of Emmett Till’s horrific murder told through the eyes of his mother will come to life. On Monday, ABC announced that Mamie Till-Mobley will be the focus of the first season of Women of the Movement, a new anthology series that chronicles the civil rights movement “as told by the women behind it,” according to reports by Vulture. The series will be executive produced by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Will Smith.
The first eight-episode season is loosely based on the book Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement by author Devery S. Anderson. It will center on Mamie Till, who devoted her life to seeking justice for her son after he was brutally murdered in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. He was then kidnapped, beaten, shot in the head, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River by white men at just 14 years old. During his funeral, Till’s mother insisted on an open-casket so that the world could see the severity of his attack through images of his mutilated body. Although Till’s killers were acquitted by an all-white jury, his murder was a key catalyst in the launch of the civil rights movement.
Carter and Smithinitially pitched the story of Mamie Till-Mobley to HBO as a six-hour miniseries years ago, but the project was stalled at the network. Once it left HBO, the producers modified the pitch to focus on multiple women who played a pivotal role in the fight for equality during the civil rights era. According to Deadline, Rosa Parks will be the subject of the second season in the anthology series.
This won’t be the first time that Carter and Smith have teamed up. The megastars previously partnered to produce the Fela Kuti-inspired Broadway musical Fela! as well as the 2014 film remake of Annie.
Janelle Monae Marries Art, Food, and Tech to Imagine ‘A Beautiful Future’
True to her calling card as one chosen to liberate the oppressed, singer/actor/activist Janelle Monae is back at it again (as if she ever stopped). Her aim? To empower women and those who identify as such via art, music, mentorship, and education. In partnership with Belvedere Vodka, Monae hosted ‘A Beautiful Future’ dinner—a sensory bouquet immersing guests in music, art, dance, and tech at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art on the eve of her Lollapalooza performance.
“This collaboration is a convergence of our shared beliefs: optimism and the power of ‘the we, not me’ to bridge divides,” said Rodney Williams, president of Belvedere Vodka. It was the next level up from the Hidden Figures starlet’s Fem the Future grassroots organization and similarly-named series of brunches previously hosted in Berlin, London, and New York.
(Image courtesy of Belvedere)
“I think it’s important whenever you work with brands that they understand your vision,” says Monae, who in addition to playing an abolitionist master teacher in Harriet Tubman’s life story, was also recently announced to replace Julia Roberts as the headlining character in the psychological thriller, Homecoming. “When Belvedere heard that I wanted to highlight voices and put more opportunities in the hands of women they said, ‘How can we help?'”
(Image courtesy of Getty)
Aside from debuting a metallic collage-designed, limited edition bottle of Belvedere’s super-premium vodka—inspired by Monae—the event zeroed in on art, food, and the celebration of four individuals from Chicago whose work aligns with the theme of diversity, inclusion, self-expression, and “access to explore one’s passions freely,” explained Monae.
(Image courtesy of Belvedere)
The honorees included sexual assault activist Scheherazade Tillet, co-founder and executive director of A Long Walk Home, a nonprofit that uses art and film to raise awareness and end violence against girls and women; Nikki Roberson, fundraising director and community outreach liaison for Kicks 4 the City; LaForce Baker, founder and CEO of Moon Meals; and celebrated visual artist and architect, Amanda Williams.
“She believes in positivity and elevating other’s voices and these are ideas that as a brand we can champion and get behind,” said Carlos Zepeda, VP of Belvedere Vodka US.
Baker, the founder of Moon Meals, is one of those voices. Currently, his product is sold in 188 grocers across Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa and he projects it will be available in over 1,000 stores, including Whole Foods, CVS, and Walgreens by the end of 2020.
Moon Meals, he says, builds upon Monae and Belvedere’s Beautiful Future motif in three ways: by increasing access to quality meals on the South and West sides of Chicago, where food deserts are prevalent; by generating revenue for economically depressed neighborhoods; and by hiring and servicing women of color. “Our products empower our customers, which are predominately women, by giving them the nutrition they love, on the go, and without much sacrifice.”
The dinner was served at a stunning 90-foot-long table, attended by 80-plus cultural tastemakers, social justice influencers, and key Chicago business stakeholders with rousing music from DJ Rae Chardonnay. It featured five courses by Jason Hammel, chef of Marisol, a restaurant at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
Technology also took a center seat at the table. Running down the center for the full length of the table was an LED display monitor pumping messages of encouragement and inspiration. The first course of the five-course dinner included a plate with brightly lit headphones playing a special message from Monae’s alter ago, Cindy Mayweather, an android from the year 2719.
“Tech is a powerful tool. But I want to make sure that the bias is not there. That’s been a big concern of mine,” says Monae, who stresses that as technologies like artificial intelligence or voice and facial recognition are developed further, Silicon Valley should bring women and diverse voices to the table on the front end.
“Because when we’re not in the room and there is only one type of person in the room making these decisions, I think that it won’t be a beautiful future.”
Wendy Williams has always been a lightning rod for strong opinions—some good, some full-on foul. But when it comes to measuring her success, even her staunchest critics have to give Williams her due. After leveraging 20 years on the rise as a shameless radio shock-jock into an odds-defying decade as host of her eponymous hit talk show, Williams is an undisputed mogul.
With a net worth of at least $40 million (including an annual TV show salary of $10 million), according to Celebrity Net Worth, Williams’ mega-brand is built on a big personality that’s unafraid to express what she thinks and expose who she wants, while making no excuses along the way. Love her or hate her, there’s no one else like her, and her unapologetic authenticity has won her legions of rabid fans.
The Wendy Williams Show, now in its 11th season, averages more than 2.4 million daily viewers, making Williams rival Ellen DeGeneres as the No. 1 female host on daytime TV. Both the show and host have received multiple Emmy nominations and Williams was a 2009 inductee into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Her empire has included production deals with Lifetime TV; fashion, jewelry, and wig lines; a book publishing company; and a philanthropic arm created to assist those struggling with addiction, as Williams openly admits she has. She is also the author of several books including “Wendy’s Got the Heat,” a 2003 memoir that made the coveted New York Times best-seller list.
Despite her notoriously strong personality, dogged work ethic, and unbridled ambition, toward the end of her autobiography, Williams pointedly advised women readers to “Know Your Place.” Summarizing her relationship with her then husband/manager Kevin Hunter, she wrote: “…my job is to make the house run smoothly. His job ultimately is to make me feel safe and protected. He is the man and that’s his primary job. I am the little woman.”
Williams has been called lots of things through the years but “little woman” has never been one of them.
After news of their marital split broke in April, it became clear that Williams had ceded decades of control to her man. Now 54, she’s facing a major transition—not just from wife to divorcee after 21 years, but from “show pony,” as she called herself in a June interview with TMZ, to power broker or—as her next memoir might couch it—from “little woman” to bad ass boss.
Fans to Williams: How You Doin’?
Used to spilling the tea surrounding other celebrities’ lives for her own professional gain, Williams hasn’t shied away from owning her own mess in the press. The news that Hunter was not only unfaithful but had possibly fathered a child with a mistress caused Williams to move from the couple’s New Jersey home to a sober house and triggered daily headlines that made her life and career look as if they were careening out of control. Emotional appearances on TMZ didn’t help. Nor did the fact that, with her TV show on hiatus, Williams didn’t have a chance to set the record straight daily and directly for her concerned fans.
Those fans were soon wondering if she could keep her business life thriving when her personal life was in shreds. Especially since Hunter was not just her primary and most trusted adviser, he was executive producer of “The Wendy Williams Show.”
No sooner did Williams file for divorce than Hunter was fired by Debmar-Mercury, the majority stakeholder of the show in which, Williams is quick to point out, she also owns a stake—and now executive produces. The decision was then made to close Hunter Publishing Co. as well as the Hunter Foundation.
Her new manager, Bernie Young, is unfazed by the closures, calling them necessary steps on the road to stabilizing Williams’ brand so it can grow from a stronger base.
Williams moved quickly to personally hire Young, a seasoned pro with a stellar track record. A former New York City detective, he launched a second career managing comics and wound up executive producing Rosie O’Donnell’s and Martha Stewart’s TV shows at their height. He had a candid two-hour phone interview with Williams before which, Young admits, he knew little beyond who she was.
“She surprised me,” Young says. “The conversation was all about her life and what she wanted to do, the things that started and failed, the dreams that came true and didn’t. She’s very smart, she understands where she is, and she has very definite ideas about where she wants to go.”
While they are in the midst of forging a very different type of manager-client relationship, the transition was clearly needed and Young says it’s going well. “We check in every day to make sure, are we speaking the same language? Can we look each other in the eye? Can we tell each other the truth and hear it? I always say, the truth can hurt but it doesn’t last,” Young says. “If we can survive that, there’s no limit to what she can do.”
Big Platform, New Partnerships, Untold Potential
Without criticizing her soon-to-be ex, Williams was as defiant as ever when she addressed an audience of entrepreneurs atBlack Enterprise’s FWD conference in Charlotte in June.
“We had to clean the slate and start over,” Williams said of Hunter’s ouster. She proudly added that, at age 29, when she met Hunter, “I was already a property owner, I was already a radio star, I was already the boss of my own life … so, it’s not new. I’m just returning to that life but with a bigger platform—and I love it.”
Despite some personal fits and starts, within six weeks of hiring Young, Williams had already cut a new deal with Lifetime TV. While the specifics of the partnership are still being finalized, she and Young confirmed that she will executive produce a series of projects for the women’s network.
On July 27, Williams begins an eight-city tour called, “Wendy Williams and Friends Presents For the Record.” The show, which launches in Oakland, California, and ends in Atlanta in September, will feature several up-and-coming comedians. Williams will host and, between their sets, will take the stage to set the record straight about her year in the headlines, says Young.
“She’s got a story to tell and this tour allows her to tell her story, her way. I want the public to see this person for who she is. She’s funny, she’s real—sometimes a little too real—but she’ll tell hers as good as she’ll tell yours, and that’s what makes people relate to her and want to bring her into their homes every day” via their TVs.
Young hopes to get the comedy tour picked up by a network to air as a special, or kick off a new series.
“The goal is not to dwell on what she’s losing but on what she wants to build,” Young says. “She has a lot of talent and a lot of vision. My job is to listen and bring structure and organization to that vision so she can achieve what she sees.
“She surprises me every day,” says Young. “I think other people are going to be surprised too.”
-Editors’ note: This article originally appeared in the Summer 2019 edition of Black Enterprise Magazine. Order the magazine today.
Evin Robinson: New York on Tech Founder Preps New Generation of Tech Leaders
BE Modern Man: Evin Robinson
Entrepreneur; 29; Co-Founder and President, New York on Tech
Twitter: @evinrobinson; Instagram: @evinrobinson
I’m the co-founder and president of America On Tech Inc. (currently operating as New York On Tech Inc.), an award-winning, early-pipeline technology talent accelerator on a mission to prepare the next generation of leaders by creating pathways into degrees and careers in technology. To date, we have worked with more than 1,000 students to deliver our tuition-free courses and help provide work-based internships and learning programs that promote the advancement of underestimated students into technology.
AOT’s work has been featured in Black Enterprise, Forbes, BET, CNN, People Magazine, Univision, TechCrunch, and other leading publications. AOT has also been awarded by Forbes 30 Under 30, Wells Fargo, and the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN LIFE?
Graduating from college holds the place as the proudest moment in my life. For me, this accomplishment was larger than myself. I remember it was Mother’s Day. The smile on my mother’s face as she congratulated me on graduating from Syracuse University is a moment I will forever treasure.
Those feelings amplified as I delivered a speech during the Multicultural Graduation Reception, a celebratory tradition on campus hosted by the Office of Multicultural Affairs. I was selected as a senior speaker. While delivering my speech on stage, I reflected on what I had overcome to get to that point. The challenges and unfavorable circumstances that were converted into a motivational desire to achieve everything I put my mind to is what I spoke about. While I graduated with honors and a fleet of awards, it did not come easy and it validated that I could overcome any challenge ahead.
HOW HAVE YOU TURNED STRUGGLE INTO SUCCESS?
While Brooklyn has changed drastically over the years, the neighborhood where I grew up still remains off the realtor’s list as a top pick. Reflecting back, I realized that limitations were placed on me before I had the chance to fully understand the opportunities the world had to offer. Similar to many low-income communities, you experience a lot of hardships and get placed into situations that test you in various ways. Through mentorship and a supportive family, I learned to turn those experiences into competitive advantages instead of disadvantages. The lessons learned and skills acquired in the struggle have assisted me in my pursuit and achievement of success, including with New York On Tech.
WHO WAS YOUR GREATEST MALE ROLE MODEL AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM HIM?
I don’t have one male role model, but rather a collection of mentors I’ve acquired over the years. From them, I’ve learned the importance of hard work, self-assurance, strategy, alliances, perseverance, and most importantly giving back.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE MANHOOD?
The exploration and development of oneself toward becoming a better person—and supporting others in their exploration and development toward becoming better people.
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
“You have all the right ingredients, you just have to mix it right.”
This is something I was told while in college and it has stuck with me. It’s a statement and a nugget of advice I constantly come back to in my personal and business life. It helps me to look at things (including my work with America On Tech) from a proactive viewpoint, reassess, and organize plans of actions toward goals.
HOW ARE YOU PAYING IT FORWARD TO SUPPORT OTHER BLACK MALES?
A large percentage of the males we serve through America On Tech Inc. (New York On Tech Inc.) identify as black males. For many of them, it’s their first time receiving coding and technical training, industry mentors, company site visits, and paid internships. Additionally, I volunteer often with my fraternity brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha and serve as a business coach and mentor to many black men.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT BEING A BLACK MAN?
Being a black man to me is a true example of perseverance. Despite all of the challenges we face, we still overcome them and continue to show our greatness at the highest levels possible.
WHAT PRACTICES, TOOLS, BOOKS, ETC. DO YOU RELY ON FOR YOUR SUCCESS?
Journaling while eating a good breakfast and listening to an entrepreneurial podcast while working out. I read a lot of autobiographies, history, business, and innovation books. For me, it’s important to understand the past, future, and proven methods and frameworks toward success.
BE Modern Man is an online and social media campaign designed to celebrate black men making valuable contributions in every profession, industry, community, and area of endeavor. Each year, we solicit nominations in order to select men of color for inclusion in the 100 Black Enterprise Modern Men of Distinction. Our goal is to recognize men who epitomize the BEMM credo “Extraordinary is our normal” in their day-to-day lives, presenting authentic examples of the typical black man rarely seen in mainstream media. The BE Modern Men of Distinction are celebrated annually at Black Men XCEL (www.blackenterprise.com/blackmenxcel/). Click this link to submit a nomination for BE Modern Man: https://blackenterprise.com/nominate/. Follow BE Modern Man on Twitter: @bemodernman and Instagram: @be_modernman.
Tony Lynn: Helping Small Businesses Use Facebook To Flourish
BE Modern Man: Tony Lynn
Tech executive; 35; Global Program Manager, Small Business Group, Facebook, Inc.
Twitter: @TheRealTonyLynn; Instagram: @tonyvlynn
My passion has always been expanding economic empowerment in marginalized communities. In my early career, I worked in public policy to push the government toward these goals. I had the great privilege to serve in the White House during the first years of the Obama administration after working on Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. I was eventually appointed to work for the Secretary of Commerce on his policy and strategic planning team, which focused on revitalizing the U.S. economy, including small businesses, during the Great Recession.
After earning an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management, I transitioned to the private sector to work on broad problems impacting the global economy. While consulting at Accenture, I spent a considerable amount of time advising the World Bank on its digital strategy for helping global small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). I view small businesses as the lifeblood of the global economy, and I know small businesses serve an important role in creating parity in black communities. I continue to focus on SMBs in my current role at Facebook, where I work to build a customer-centric digital eco-system allowing all SMBs to grow. My work spans both Facebook and Instagram and I am most proud of the many stories I hear from our customers about how Facebook is helping their small businesses flourish.
I am also still very active in the community. I currently serve as chair for a global nonprofit startup called I Am, We Are (IAWA) which focuses on youth empowerment programming in South Africa. We are working to expand our footprint in South Africa and build programs in the U.S. and beyond.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN LIFE?
When looking at where I am now and many of my accomplishments, I feel truly blessed. So many of these goals were met with the help of my “village”: my wife, my family, and a strong core of friends who have all encouraged me and helped to shape who I am. So many of my best moments that I am very proud of—earning an athletic scholarship, earning an M.B.A. from Yale, working on President Obama’s first presidential campaign and in the White House, to now leading major initiatives at Facebook in support of small businesses—would not be possible without this team that supports and motivates me every day.
HOW HAVE YOU TURNED STRUGGLE INTO SUCCESS?
There have been many, but the most impactful example is how I became involved in politics. I was attending Dillard University, an HBCU in New Orleans, in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit during my senior year and decimated my college along with the city. After the devastation, I was unable to return to campus in the fall. I also witnessed firsthand how necessary and important effective government for communities truly is and what happens when it falls woefully short. Rather than accept this national disaster as a complete personal setback, I decided to spend that semester interning on Capitol Hill for my home state Sen. Bill Nelson. That semester I found my passion for economic policy and learned the vital role government can play in improving people’s lives at scale. As a result of those experiences from the fall, I was able to pursue my dream of competing for a Rhodes Scholarship, was honored as a Coca-Cola Community All-American and ultimately received a full-time job offer to join Senator Nelson’s staff when I graduated later that year. I was able to use these experiences to gain an impactful role on President Obama’s first presidential campaign and eventually a presidential appointment to the White House.
WHO WAS YOUR GREATEST MALE ROLE MODEL AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM HIM?
My greatest male role model is definitely my father, Mark Lynn. He lost his parents at a young age and was taken care of by family, then graduated from college with distinction after serving in the Navy. He always instilled in me a belief that I have a responsibility to make the world better than I found it. He taught me the importance of God, family, and education. I am who I am because of my father and my mother, Carolyn Lynn, who is also an incredible influence on my life.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE MANHOOD?
I define manhood as a conscientious choice to sacrifice personal gratification for the benefit of family and community.
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
My father has always been a great source of good advice. While growing up he taught me that true excellence comes from consistency and sacrifice. He would often cite a quote attributed to Aristotle to my brother and me: “You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” I have always leaned on this wisdom whenever I have questioned whether I am working hard enough to put my best foot forward.
HOW ARE YOU PAYING IT FORWARD TO SUPPORT OTHER BLACK MALES?
Paying it forward to support other black males has been a conscious act for me throughout my career. Right now I am broadly focused on growing I AM, WE Are, a nonprofit that I am involved with that is focused on youth empowerment. In past positions, I led key workplace initiatives to support black men, including representing my previous employer, Accenture at the Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) pre-MBA conference where I focused on providing early training for MLT Fellows aspiring to break into management consulting. I was also on the Board for the Washington, DC Chapter of the NAACP, where I led civil engagement for the chapter. Aside from work with these great organizations, I am very proud of being able to help mentor many black men on their professional pursuits. I see helping others navigate their careers as my personal responsibility.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT BEING A BLACK MAN?
Black men have a unique story of perseverance in this country. I have great admiration for all that black men have been able to contribute to our society [including as owners of small businesses] in spite of a troubling history of oppression. Many of us are leaders in our communities, we are growing in the executive ranks, and are continuing to grow our numbers in the educational, legal, medical, and STEM fields. It is inspiring to see that many of us are leading in the vanguard to push the U.S. to become more diverse and fair.
I believe in the limitless capacity of our community to create change and to flourish when provided with a fair opportunity. The next decade has to be about shifting the mental model for success to equity and ownership as our north star. Moreover, for black men to thrive in this rapidly evolving digital world we have to uplift one another, commit to building up our communities, and invest in expanding the STEM capabilities of our children. Technology is leveling the playing field in many ways, therefore, the ability to thrive in this new world will be directly correlated with an ability to understand how digital systems and software are developed and monetized. We all must educate our selves in these new fields and play an active part in making sure that the next generation is not left behind.
BE Modern Man is an online and social media campaign designed to celebrate black men making valuable contributions in every profession, industry, community, and area of endeavor. Each year, we solicit nominations in order to select men of color for inclusion in the 100 Black Enterprise Modern Men of Distinction. Our goal is to recognize men who epitomize the BEMM credo “Extraordinary is our normal” in their day-to-day lives, presenting authentic examples of the typical black man rarely seen in mainstream media. The BE Modern Men of Distinction are celebrated annually at Black Men XCEL (www.blackenterprise.com/blackmenxcel/). Click this link to submit a nomination for BE Modern Man: https://blackenterprise.com/nominate/. Follow BE Modern Man on Twitter: @bemodernman and Instagram: @be_modernman.
