Fred McKinney to take on national role in minority business development

Dr. Fred McKinney has been appointed Managing Director of Minority Business Programs at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He has been serving as President and CEO of Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council (GNEMSDC), where he designed and led programs that have had a strong regional impact on the East Coast. In his new position — a new role at Tuck — he will have national scope and impact.

The Tuck School is the nation’s oldest graduate school of business, and has the most comprehensive outreach programs for diverse entrepreneurs. The school has run minority programs in 39 states over the past 35 years, and has given completion certificates to more than 7,000 minority, Native American, and women business owners. As a top-ranked business school globally, Tuck provides thought leadership that shapes public policy as well as corporate and public sector best practices.

McKinney will work in close collaboration with Dr. Leonard Greenhalgh, Faculty Director of the programs.

“We have a mission of creating a different future for people who have faced historical discrimination and whose inclusion is important to the vitality of the US economy, and Fred is the ideal leader to join us and realize this aspiration,” said Greenhalgh.

McKinney started with the Connecticut Minority Supplier Development Council (CMSDC) in July 2001 as President and CEO. In 2009, he merged CMSDC with the New England Minority Supplier Development Council to become the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council. During that time, Dr. McKinney has led the growth of the GNEMSDC from a small staff of three to a staff of 16.

McKinney stated, “The past 14 years have been the most rewarding years in my professional career to date. I’ve had the great opportunity to work with outstanding corporations, minority business enterprises, and public sector leaders committed to minority business development. I am looking forward to starting this next phase of my career working specifically in the area of developing the capacity of diverse entrepreneurs across the nation. Tuck has an outstanding tradition of working with minority and women business owners. I continue to be passionate about MBE development, and this opportunity to join one of the best business schools in the world will provide me an excellent platform to make a lasting difference for diverse businesses.”

For more information on Tuck School and the Minority Business Programs, click on www.TuckMinorityPrograms.com.

McKinney earned his Ph.D. in economics at Yale University in 1983. He has served on the faculties of Sacred Heart University, Brandeis University and the University of Connecticut. McKinney also spent a year on the Council of Economic Advisers during the Carter administration. He lives in Trumbull, Connecticut with his wife Ivy Thomas McKinney and his two springer spaniels.