Name: Adrian W. Rich
Title/Occupation: IT Consultant/Entrepreneur
Current City: Bowie, MD
Age: 43
On the NMAAHC Ambassadors Program: What inspired him to join: Did you see 12 Years a Slave? Or the “Roots” mini-series in thh ’70s when John Amos played Kunta Kinte and you, as a 7 year old kid only knew him as the ‘James Evans’? And how as a 7-year old, seeing John Amos as Kunta Kinte and not shucking and jiving on Good Times, kinda sent your little mind racing about what being black actually meant? The epiphany of that 7-year old many years ago is what inspired me to want to support an institution that could more completely describe the phenomenon of being black in America. * Why he believes the Museum is an important project: This museum must tell the story of a people whose contribution would be easily overlooked and underestimated as emerging American generations lose a visceral feel for living along-side slavery and Jim Crow.* Why African American philanthropy is important for the success of this project: If we, as African-Americans, don’t support it; if we don’t sacrifice for it; if we don’t extol it—then why should it exist?
REFLECTIONS: First job: Special Education teacher in Baltimore. * Advice he’d have given himself 10 years ago: Follow your passion and keep chopping wood—if it were easy everyone would do it. * Most valuable business lesson: Separate people from the problem and focus on problem solving. If you cannot solve problems with the people around you either you or them need to be upgraded or replaced. * What’s the best lesson learned from a past mistake: Fail forward – persevering through failure may eventually turn into success and success achieved through persevering is equivalent to growth and innovation. * Working on currently: Recently launched an IT consulting firm focused on the Homeland Security market and the commercialization of Quantum computing technology.
DIVERSIONS: Currently reading: The Lean Startup by Eric Ries * Last fun purchase: Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2 tablet PC *Recently discovered: The floecist Akua Naru. Her lyrics, her music & her consciousness has blown me away. * I keep trying to tell people that….: “I am really not a nerd BUT Quantum computing technology will change our lives like the light bulb did!”
A FEW FAVORITES: Hotel: The W * Getaway: Paris, France or any Melia resort * Place to meet for a drink: Little Havana in Baltimore * Meal: the Half Angus/Half Pork Belly burger at Open Road in Falls Church, Va. * Guilty pleasure: Crabs! I have them almost every day.
Stay tuned for more profiles in our NMAAHC Ambassador/Black philanthropy series.