{{Short description|American business executive (born 1955)}} {{Infobox person | name = Hilda Pinnix-Ragland | image = | caption = | birth_name = Hilda Pinnix | birth_date = May 1955 | birth_place = Hillsborough, North Carolina, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = Alvin Glendale Ragland | family = | occupation = business executive, philanthropist | education = | alma_mater = North Carolina A&T State University<br>Duke University | parents = | children = 1 }} '''Hilda Pinnix-Ragland''' (born May 1955) is an American business executive and philanthropist. As the former Vice President of Corporate Public Affairs for Duke Energy, she was the first African-American woman to serve as a vice president at the company. She previously worked as the Vice President of Energy Delivery Services, Vice President of the North Region, and Vice President of Economic Development for Progress Energy Inc and was the first African-American woman to serve as a vice president. She currently serves on the board of directors for RTI International as Chair Audit & Risk Committee, in 2016, she was appointed to the 8 Rivers Capital, an energy technology company's Board and in 2020 she was appointed to the Board of Directors of Southwest Water Company. She is often the first African-American woman board member. Pinnix-Ragland also serves as the chairwoman of the board of trustees at North Carolina A&T State University. In May 2017 she co-authored the book ''The Energy Within Us: An Illuminating Perspective from Five Trailblazers''.
== Early life and education == Pinnix-Ragland grew up in Hillsborough, North Carolina on her family's angus farm, the daughter of Lloyd Lee Pinnix and Irene Miles.<ref name= edtalks>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-M_x9Xz30w |title=Video |website=www.youtube.com |access-date=2020-11-08}}</ref> Her family had been African-American landowners for five generations.<ref name= oil/> In 1965 she was escorted to school by members of the United States Marshals Service during the integration of Aycock Elementary School.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ednc.org/perspective-trailblazer-profiles-hilda-pinnix-ragland/|title=Perspective | Trailblazer Profiles: Hilda Pinnix-Ragland|date=13 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://belk-center.ced.ncsu.edu/ncccs-history-project-main-page/|title=NCCCS History Project: Main Page|access-date=2022-01-02|archive-date=2022-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102173100/https://belk-center.ced.ncsu.edu/ncccs-history-project-main-page/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
As a teenager she was a member of the track and field team at Orange High School, was a Girl Scout, and participated in the youth organization 4-H.<ref name="edtalks" /> Pinnix-Ragland got her bus driver license in Orange County while in school, and was one of the first female school bus drivers in the county, and also worked at her uncle's gas station.<ref name="edtalks" /> She graduated from high school in 1973.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://old-friends.co/class.php?s=24336&c=1973 | title=Old Friends - Class of 1973 - Orange High School - One $3 Lifetime membership }}</ref>
She graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina A&T State University, where she was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, in 1977 with a degree in accounting.<ref name="ivyleafsummer06">''Ivy Leaf''. Summer 2006.</ref> She obtained a master of business administration degree in finance from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business in 1986.<ref name="news" /><ref name="oil" /><ref name="campus">{{Cite web|url=https://uncfsu.campuslabs.com/engage/event/232754|title=Chancellor's Distinguished Speaker Series Hilda Pinnix-Ragland - Women's History Month|website=uncfsu.campuslabs.com}}</ref> She also completed Harvard University's Kennedy School of Public Policy Executive Leadership program and completed graduate studies in taxation at St. John's University.<ref name="campus" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://savoynetwork.com/hilda-pinnix-ragland/|title=Hilda Pinnix-Ragland|date=October 15, 2012|website=Savoy}}</ref><ref name="institute">{{cite web | title=Hilda Pinnix-Ragland – Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise | website=kenaninstitute.unc.edu | date=2019-09-04 | url=https://kenaninstitute.unc.edu/people/hilda-pinnix-ragland/ | language=hu | access-date=2020-11-09}}</ref>
== Career == After graduating from college, she moved to New York City and worked as an auditor for Colgate-Palmolive and as a senior auditor for Arthur Anderson.<ref name= oil/><ref name= biz/> In 1980 she moved back to North Carolina and began working for Carolina Power & Light, which later became Progress Energy, as a systems auditor.<ref name= news/><ref name= oil/> Pinnix-Ragland was the only female auditor and person of color on her team at Progress Energy.<ref name= oil/> She moved from auditing to the treasury, and was later appointed as a vice president of economic development, vice president of energy delivery services, and vice president of the northern region for the company.<ref name= news/><ref name= oil/> Pinnix-Ragland was the first African-American woman to serve as a vice president within the company.<ref name= news/> After Progress Energy merged with Duke Energy in 2012, she was named the Vice President of Corporate Public Affairs.<ref name= news/><ref name= oil/> In this capacity, she worked with public officials at the local, state, and federal levels to develop public policies to protect consumers and businesses.<ref name= oil/> Pinnix-Ragland retired from Duke Energy in June 2016.<ref name= biz/> She was appointed as the first African-American woman to the board of directors by Bill Kavanuagh, and later became an officer of the board.<ref name= oil/> She also serves as the Vice Chair of Progress Energy's Corporate Diversity Council.<ref name= campus/>
In 2013, she served on the board of directors of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nciom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/NCIOM_30yrs_final.pdf |title=Shaping Policy for a Healthier State for 30 Years |date= 2017|website=nciom.org |access-date=2020-11-08}}</ref> She also serves on the board of directors for Southwest Water Company,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.swwc.com/boardofdirectors/hilda-pinnix-ragland/|title=Hilda Pinnix-Ragland}}</ref> serves as vice-chair of the board of directors at RTI International, and is a consultant with TVA Power.<ref name= oil>{{Cite web|url=https://oilwomanmagazine.com/article/hilda-pinnix-ragland-energized-for-the-future/|title=Hilda Pinnix-Ragland: Energized for the Future|first1=Claudia|last1=Melatini|date=November 1, 2020}}</ref><ref name= biz/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rti.org/corporate-governance|title=Corporate Governance|date=February 19, 2016|website=RTI}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pinkpetro.com/black-womens-equal-pay-day/|title=Black Women's Equal Pay Day: Companies Need To Act}}</ref> She served as chairwoman of the board of directors of the North Carolina Community College System,<ref>{{cite web | website=www.halifaxcc.edu|title=Halifax Community College | url=http://www.halifaxcc.edu/halifacts/statebdpix/statecommcollegeboardvisitshcc/tv20.html | access-date=2020-11-09}}</ref> as co-chair of Wake Invests in Women, and as chair of the board of directors of the American Association of Blacks in Energy.<ref name= biz/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blackfacts.com/fact/hilda-pinnix-ragland|title=Hilda Pinnix-Ragland|website=Blackfacts.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.waketech.edu/post/wt-news-story/4284|title="Wake Invests in Women" Seeks Partners to Strengthen Workforce in Wake County|date=September 20, 2019|website=Wake Technical Community College}}</ref> She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and is also a co-chair of Wake Education Partnership.<ref name= biz/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wakeed.org/wake-ed-power-hour-launches-annual-campaign/|title=Wake Ed Power Hour Launches Annual Campaign|date=March 30, 2007}}</ref> She serves as the Chairwoman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and Chair Audit Committee, on the board of advisors at 8 Rivers Financial Capital, and is chair of the board of directors for North Carolina Dental Services.<ref name= institute/> She also served as the co-chair of the Governor of North Carolina's transition team and the state's Budget Reform and Accountability Commission.<ref name= institute/> She was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama to serve on the board of the National Park Foundation.<ref name= institute/>
Ragland founded STEMulus Academy, a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics program for fifth grade girls in Wake County.<ref name= oil/><ref name= biz/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stemulusacademy.com/|title=Stemulus Academy – Women in STEM}}</ref> She founded the Hilda Pinnix-Ragland Endowment through the North Carolina Community Foundation, which provides scholarships for accounting students at North Carolina A&T State University.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nccommunityfoundation.org/list-of-funds/hilda-pinnix-ragland-endowment|title=Hilda Pinnix-Ragland Endowment|first1=North Carolina Community Foundation 3737 Glenwood Ave Suite 460|last1=Raleigh|first2=NC 27612 919-828-4387 800-532-1349 919-827-0749Increase|last2=Font|website=North Carolina Community Foundation}}</ref>
In 2007, she was a recipient of the American Association of Blacks in Energy's James E. Stewart Award. In 2008 she received the North Carolina 4-H Lifetime Achievement Award.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://elcinstitute.org/elc/speakers/view/5|title=Executive Leadership Council|website=elcinstitute.org|access-date=2020-11-09|archive-date=2020-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929120522/https://elcinstitute.org/elc/speakers/view/5|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2012 she was listed as one of the Top 100 Influential Women in Corporate America by ''Savoy Magazine''.<ref name= biz/> She was awarded the Education Award for Leadership in Community Colleges by Joe Biden.<ref name= biz/> In 2017 ''Triangle Business Journal'' presented Pinnix-Ragland with the Women in Business Lifetime Achievement Award.<ref name= biz>{{cite web |url= https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2017/03/30/tbj-names-2017-women-in-business-lifetime.html|title=Women in business |date=2017 |website= www.bizjournals.com|access-date=2020-11-08}}</ref> She was inducted into the 2020 Lifetime Hall of Fame for NCA&T State University Business School.<ref name= institute/>
In May 2019, she co-authored the book ''The Energy Within Us: An Illuminating Perspective from Five Trailblazers'' with Carolyn Green, Joyce Hayes Giles, Rose McKinney-James and Telisa Toliver.<ref name= stmartin>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stmartinec.org/blog/singing-in-a-strange-land/|title=Singing in a Strange Land - St. Martin-in-the-Fields|website=www.stmartinec.org}}</ref>
== Personal life == Pinnix-Ragland is married to Alvin Glendale Ragland, a human resources specialist who serves as head of human resources for Sony Ericsson in Research Triangle Park.<ref name= news/><ref name= cary/> They have one daughter and live in Cary, North Carolina.<ref name= cary>{{Cite web|url=https://www.carymagazine.com/features/hilda-pinnix-ragland-2005-women-of-western-wake-honoree/|title=Hilda Pinnix-Ragland, 2005 Women of Western Wake Honoree | Cary Magazine}}</ref> She and her husband are members of Carolina Country Club in Raleigh, North Carolina.<ref name= news>{{cite web |url=https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/midtown-raleigh-news/article10275806.html |title=Carolina Country Club admits its first African-American couple |date=July 8, 2013 |website= www.newsobserver.com|access-date=2020-11-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://clubandresortbusiness.com/tag/hilda-pinnix-ragland/|title=Hilda Pinnix-Ragland Archives|website=Club + Resort Business}}</ref> They were the first African-American members in the country club's 103-year history when they joined in 2013.<ref name= news/><ref name= biz/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kissrichmond.com/2443433/little-known-black-history-fact-the-carolina-country-club/|title=Little Known Black History Fact: The Carolina Country Club|date=July 8, 2013}}</ref>
She is Episcopalian and teaches Sunday school at St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Raleigh.<ref name= cary/><ref name= stmartin/>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinnix-Ragland, Hilda}} Category:Living people Category:1955 births Category:People from Hillsborough, North Carolina Category:African-American business executives Category:African-American Episcopalians Category:American Episcopalians Category:American women business executives Category:American women philanthropists Category:Duke Energy people Category:Episcopalians from North Carolina Category:Founders of American schools and colleges Category:Fuqua School of Business alumni Category:North Carolina A&T State University alumni Category:Women corporate executives Category:People from Cary, North Carolina