Blondel Pinnock will write history after being appointed the new CEO and president of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. Pinnock will fill the shoes of the previous president Colvin W. Grannum, who for the past 20 years has led the corporation to great successes and growth. Bed-Stuy Restoration Corporation has worked to enhance economic growth, self-sufficiency and stability in Brooklyn, as well as promoting important measures and initiatives that are needed in developing safe neighborhoods for residents. For decades, Bed-Stuy Restoration Corporation has aimed to close the racial wealth gaps all throughout Central Brooklyn, along with providing communities with developing programs and non profit organizations. With Pinnock’s guidance and avid experience, she plans to lead the corporation in groundbreaking and effective new ways. Her passion, persistence, and knowledge has led her to be a strong contender for this role.
Blondel Pinnock was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, as well as being a first generation college grad. She explains how the aspiration of going to college was something she always knew she was destined for.
“Despite the fact that no one in my family attended college, I always knew because that’s something my family always talked about, and ultimately manifested for myself and my sister,” explained Pinnock. She attended Columbia University for undergrad where she earned a B.A. in history and sociology, and Hofstra University School of Law earning a J.D.
Prior to working with Restoration, Pinnock worked with Greater Jamaica Development Corporation as the chief of staff, where she mentioned how those very experiences helped her excel to the position she is currently embarking upon today. “Greater Jamaica Corporation is also a community development corporation that was founded about and around the same time as Bed-Stuy Restoration, and for the same intended purposes, which was: to be a catalytic economic organization, to help an urban market that needed its assistance, and community convener, so it was good to be in that position for a while because I think it prepared me for the type of organization that this is.”
Pinnock candidly spoke about her journeys that ultimately led her to want to get into the work she does today. She further explained how after being given an opportunity to work for New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), it was that very experience that provided her with the opportunity to choose her pathway of success. “Honestly my time at HPD opened me up to the fact that I could use my talents and make a difference in communities. I started to understand how you could use tax policies to help build and promote and leverage affordable housing, I understood how you are able to utilize public and private partnerships and bring those things together to help build communities, and that really opened me up to the work I knew I would soon grow to love,” she explained.
Pinnock expressed how throughout her life, the setbacks she has embarked upon she views as merely opportunities leading her into ultimately the right place. She explains the support and love of her community has helped her immensely: “I have had a village around me that has been so supportive and that has helped me throughout my years, because I wouldn’t have been able to be where I am today if I didn’t have that level of support to help guide me throughout my career,” said Pinnock.
Pinnock’s current and prior knowledge will be of great use for her success as she is able to use her experience to provide perspectives of multiple viewpoints. “I’ve appreciated the seats I’ve been able to sit in because it allowed me to look at community building from very different aspects,” she said.
All of the achievements Pinnock will continue to accomplish are endless; her leadership skills and ability to provide her own field of expertise will lead herself and Bed-Stuy Restoration Corporation to great successes in the future.