October 19, 2009
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida A&M University (FAMU) will host its annual Homecoming Convocation Friday, October 23, at 10:10 a.m. in Gaither Gymnasium. This year’s keynote speaker is FAMU alum Bernard Kinsey.
Kinsey is a native of West Palm Beach, Fla. Following in his family's tradition, he attended FAMU. At FAMU, he met his wife, Shirley. After graduating in 1967, he was hired as the first African-American sales representative for Humble Oil Company, then a part of the Exxon Corporation. The job took Kinsey to South Central Los Angeles. Kinsey was immediately successful and quickly became Humble Oil's number-one sales representative.
In 1971, Kinsey left Humble Oil to join Xerox Corporation as a field service manager. Within his first nine months, he rose through the rank to number one. Kinsey became a vice president of Xerox within 10 years. He holds the distinction of achieving No. 1 status nationally in every sales and marketing position he held from 1968 to 1984. Kinsey also worked to create a program for bringing African Americans and other minorities into the company and training them for jobs with opportunities for advancement.
In 1991, Kinsey left Xerox and in 1992, he became the chief operating officer and co-chairman of Rebuild Los Angeles (RLA) under Peter Ueberroth. RLA's mission was to bring jobs, economic opportunities and pride to the area that had been devastated by the 1992 Los Angeles riots. While leading the revitalization efforts, Kinsey succeeded in generating more than $380 million in investments for inner-city Los Angeles. Kinsey also worked to bring grocery stores, loan funds, pharmacies, hardware stores and other retail outlets to the community.
He has been a strong supporter of FAMU since 1986 and has had a special interest in supporting the Marching “100,” which has lead to more than $1 million for scholarships. He also has made donations to the School of Business and Industry and ROTC program. He has served as chair of the FAMU Industry Cluster and is a former National Alumni Association President.
Kinsey currently serves as president of KBK Enterprises, a management-consulting firm. He is a recognized expert and leader in the field of urban revitalization and economic development and has counseled the governments of South Africa, Germany, England, Israel and France.
The Kinseys have been married for 41 years and have a son, Khalil.
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