Why it matters:
Katherine Pinkard (MBA ’14) prepares to lead the Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board and encourage her fellow alumni to support the school’s mission through alumni engagement and active participation.
Following her family’s tradition, Katherine Pinkard takes on alumni leadership role
Katherine Pinkard’s connections to Johns Hopkins University are deep. They date back more than a century and long before she earned her MBA from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in 2014.
Her great-grandfather, Robert G. Merrick Sr., was class of 1917 and later earned his PhD in economics from Hopkins. Her grandmother, Baltimore philanthropist and once-president of the France-Merrick Foundation Anne Pinkard, was the first woman to serve on the university’s board of trustees. Her uncle,
Walter Pinkard, was also a trustee and chair emeritus of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing’s Advisory Board.
“And then me, I'm the fourth generation connected to the university,” Katherine said. “I grew up very deeply steeped in a family tradition of philanthropy and volunteerism back to Johns Hopkins.” Pinkard herself has now taken on a similar role, leading the Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board at Carey. As the board’s new chair, she aims to encourage her fellow alumni to support the school’s mission through alumni engagement and active participation.
“The school did so much for me throughout my MBA program and while I was starting my business,” said Pinkard. “The school could not have been more supportive as kind of a launchpad for my business.”
“You don't have to serve as the chair of an alumni board to be involved with Carey,” she said. “Read our newsletters, come to events or just be a guest to listen. There's a whole spectrum of ways to get involved and stay involved with Carey, and the more you are involved, the more you can take advantage of our incredible network." - Katherine Pinkard
Pinkard is president of her own commercial real estate services firm, Pinkard Properties, which she founded while she was still an MBA student at Carey. The Baltimore-area firm provides property management, development, project management, and advisory services related to commercial real estate. Like philanthropy, real estate is part of the Pinkard family legacy. Her great grandfather Walter C. Pinkard founded W.C. Pinkard & Company (later known as Colliers Pinkard) 100 year ago, and Pinkard continues that family legacy with her own stamp on the industry.
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Pinkard’s message for her fellow alumni is simple: Get involved. You don’t have to have millions of dollars. Carey has 25,000 business education graduates – a built-in network to tap. Attending events, mentoring students, or other activities are all great ways to be connected, build relationships, and make Carey even stronger at the same time. Pinkard even appeared in video for the school supporting opportunities for women pursuing careers in real estate.
“You don't have to serve as the chair of an alumni board to be involved with Carey,” she said. “Read our newsletters, come to events or just be a guest to listen. There's a whole spectrum of ways to get involved and stay involved with Carey, and the more you are involved, the more you can take advantage of our incredible network.”
In addition to her role with the DAAB, Pinkard also serves on Carey’s Real Estate and Infrastructure Advisory Board.