This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
An interview withNkrumah Pierre ’06for National Public Radio’s News & Notes program aired yesterday. The five-minute taped interview with host Farai Chideya can be heard here. A transcript is below.
In addition, a National Public Radio Morning Edition interview with David Shulman, associate professor of anthropology and sociology, aired today. Go here for the story and to listen to the interview.
Pierre was interviewed about the career networking organization he founded before he graduated from Lafayette called Young Entrepreneurs Entertainment. More than 100 people attended his first event in Manhattan during the summer of his junior year and, since starting in his position as a commercial real estate analyst with M&T Bank, he’s organized numerous additional networking events.
“All the networking events I had in college helped me immensely by the time I was getting ready to graduate,” he says. “You can learn so much from others in the field, [and] from each other. I felt I could help others do the same.”
From newsmakers to performers, health to finance, News & Notes explores issues and people from an African American perspective.
A transcript of the interview follows:
FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
I’m Farai Chideya and this is NEWS & NOTES. When it comes to finding a job, who you know can be just as important as what you know. An estimated 60 percent of new jobs are found through a network of friends, family and professional acquaintances. But for many young professionals of color those contacts can be hard to make. Nkrumah Pierre founded the networking group Young Entrepreneurs Entertainment. He joins us now from our New York bureau. Hey there.
Mr. NKRUMAH PIERRE (Founder, Young Entrepreneurs Entertainment): Hello.
CHIDEYA: Tell us about the group you’ve founded.
Mr. PIERRE: All right. Well, yes, I formed Young Entrepreneurs Entertainment in 2005. It was the summer right before my senior year at Lafayette College. I started the group simply because I wanted a way to find insight into different careers in business for myself. It started off initially with my first event and I brought together fellow interns and also professionals at the time.
CHIDEYA: Tell me what you mean specifically, like what kind of people showed up and what were you really hoping to accomplish when you started this organization?
Mr. PIERRE: Well, my primary goal was to bring together professionals and also interns at these various companies. The goal was to, like I said, provide insight, bring them together so they could make connections [with] their peers in different industries. For example, we had people from finance companies on Wall Street. We had lawyers. We had young professionals. We had doctors. We had people of various backgrounds. A lot of people when they go to networking events, whether it be at their respective colleges or even at their respective companies, they feel that there’s an added pressure, a standard that they have to live up to. But in these informal events it’s more of a social gathering so there’s a lot less pressure but the same goal is achieved.
CHIDEYA: Give me an example of how someone says that they benefited from this. What has someone who came to one of your events come up to you and said?
Mr. PIERRE: Well, actually, I had an event recently and the following day I got an e-mail from one of my friends who actually spoke of an internship that her best friend had done, and she met the person who held the internship at my networking event. And the person mentioned one of their interns who happened to be my friend’s best friend. So that was a connection right there just in passing that they were talking about and the circles just overlapped.
CHIDEYA: Now why do you think that some individuals of color, including some of the students when you were in college, didn’t take advantage of career services that were available?
Mr. PIERRE: Well, I feel a lot of students, they’re so tied up in classes that they leave it till the last minute to apply for jobs. For example, I have my friends, they wait until their senior year to even start applying. And they had no internship experience, and they felt simply that because they went to a good school and they have a great GPA that they were simply going to find a job. That’s just not how it works. You have to start your job search early. The summer after your sophomore year I feel is a perfect opportunity or perfect time to get a good internship and get the ball rolling.
CHIDEYA: You started this for people of color but it’s not limited to people of color. Why did you make that choice?
Mr. PIERRE: As we know, corporate America is dominated by white males and it’s become comfortable in that environment. So young entrepreneurs are transcending cultures. Definitely I have friends from all backgrounds. I went to Lafayette College, which is primarily, predominantly white. And I have friends from college who came, friends who I met at work, friends who I met at internships. So you can’t just focus on African-American or minorities as your clientele because it’s just not going to work out. When you get into the real world you have to be able to assimilate with different cultures.
CHIDEYA: Now you are currently working as a finance professional. Tell me a little bit about how you grew up.
Mr. PIERRE: Well, I was born in Manchester, England. I came over in 1986. In Queens, I grew up around I’d say in a middle-income neighborhood – black and Spanish neighborhood. And then in ’93 was when I moved out to Long Island, predominantly white neighborhood. And I went to a very good public high school and then I went to Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. But I did have a chance when I came home, I met with family, went to different events, I’ve traveled. I mean I have been around all types of people.
CHIDEYA: So when you look ahead and you think about this group that you’ve founded, Young Entrepreneurs Entertainment, do you see yourself being one of the old heads one day, you know, one of the people who some people come up to and say, oh, you know, I’m just starting out. I want to break into finance. Can you help me? Are you looking forward to being someone who people look up to for advice?
Mr. PIERRE: Definitely. I feel it’s very necessary for young African-Americans, young professionals to have a mentor. In my case, I have about three or four mentors that helped me on different things, whether it be when I was coming out of college, what jobs to look for, how much to expect, what are the paths I should take in the interview process, what kind of questions should I ask. So definitely, I feel – later down the road, I want to be able to lend a helping hand and be a mentor myself. I got a lot of help on the way up, and I want to help as many as I can to come up in their future.
CHIDEYA: Well, Nkrumah Pierre, thank you so much.
Mr. PIERRE: Thank you.
CHIDEYA: Nkrumah Pierre founded the networking group Young Entrepreneurs Entertainment. He spoke to us from our New York bureau.
##
Nkrumah Pierre ’06