Sharon R. Pinder

Sharon R. Pinder, special secretary for the Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs in Maryland, has been named UMUC’s 2004 Distinguished Alumna of the Year, the University’s highest alumni honor. Pinder graduated from UMUC in 2001 with an executive Master of Science degree in technology management.

In presenting the award, UMUC President Gerald A. Heeger called Pinder “a role model and inspiration to women everywhere” and commended her for “her innovative use of technology, entrepreneurial spirit, and advocacy on behalf of those less fortunate.”

“It was an unbelievable honor to receive this award,” said Pinder of the certificate that now hangs prominently on her office wall in Baltimore. “My experience with UMUC couldn’t have been better. I was at 80 percent travel with General Electric when I enrolled, and the program offered extraordinary flexibility and support.”

Pinder has an impressive resume that includes 20 years of development and strategic planning for Fortune 500 companies. She has served as the manager of the development center for Travelers Insurance, the Internet development manager for General Electric Information Systems, the vice president of MYCOM Group, Inc., and the president of Early Morning Software, Inc., her own $5 million professional services firm in Baltimore.

Pinder traces her extraordinary success to a work ethic that she inherited from her family.

“Work ethic is a learned behavior, and I learned from my father,” said Pinder. “He was an entrepreneur. He owned a barbershop and worked very hard, leaving early in the morning and coming home late at night. I remember that even with such long hours, there was such a sense of freedom associated with running his own business.”

Pinder now works to create and protect opportunity for Maryland’s business owners. In January 2003, Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. appointed Pinder to head the Maryland Office of Minority Affairs.

Though 40 percent of Maryland’s population is made up of minorities, minority- and women-owned businesses have been consistently under-represented in contract awards. The Office of Minority Affairs was originally established to act as a counterbalance, facilitating the growth of minority businesses and encouraging those companies working on state projects to contract more minority firms.

“Our mission is to look at the promotion, advancement, and support of minority business in Maryland,” said Pinder. “We are the face of minority business in the Ehrlich administration.”

Pinder inherited an office that had lost credibility under the previous administration. For the 2001 fiscal year, Maryland reported that minority- and women-owned firms were getting contracts that appeared to shatter state goals. However, it was soon discovered that the numbers had been significantly inflated to reflect, in part, contracts under consideration rather than contracts awarded.

Stepping into this gap, Pinder is now working to overhaul the system. She is not one to shy away from difficult odds.

“My challenges are also my thrills,” said Pinder. “I love being an agent for change. This is the first Republican administration in Maryland in 36 years. Our challenge is to deliver from this office with a re-engineered approach. We have spent 18 months gathering data from minority businesses, and we have developed a very aggressive program in terms of goals.”

Some of these goals are already being met. The number of minority-owned businesses has seen marked increases in recent months. Additionally, during its last session, the Maryland legislature passed a landmark ruling that requires each state agency to reserve 10 percent of its contracting dollars for bid solely by small businesses. For the first time, small businesses will be able to bid for state contracts without competing with larger, more established businesses.

With all of this success, Pinder still sets significant time aside for volunteer work. She serves on several boards, including those of Associated Black Charities, the Maryland Committee for Children, Inc., and Leadership Maryland, Inc.

“It is a very basic belief of mine that you should never forget where you have come from,” said Pinder. “I take seriously the text in Luke 12 that says ‘to whomever much is given, of him much will be required.’ It is my obligation to give back to the community that has given so much to me.”

In addition to the UMUC Alumna of the Year Award, Pinder has been recognized repeatedly with awards from the business community, including the 2004 Outstanding Women of Color in Business Award from the Maryland/District of Columbia Minority Supplier Development Council, the 2003 Award of Excellence from Maryland Women for Responsive Government, and the 2002 Outstanding Leader of the Year award from Leadership Maryland.