Featured Alumni
Seth Pinsky '89 and Tokumbo Shobawale '88

Blake alumni Seth Pinsky '89 (left) and Tokumbo Shobawale '88 make up half the team that runs the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). When Shobawale, the chief operating officer, reports to Pinsky, the president, he doesn't have to go far — the two sit within a few feet of each other in an open "bullpen" office.

The NYCEDC is a not-for-profit organization charged with economic development on behalf of the city of New York. The agency's responsibilities range from capital construction projects to property management to area-wide rezonings to strategic advisory work, including representing the city in the 2006 World Trade Center rebuilding deal.

Pinsky graduated from Columbia University and worked for an investment bank for two years before attending law school at Harvard. He returned to New York to work for a law firm with offices across the street from the World Trade Center. "After September 11th, we were unable to return to our offices for almost three months," Pinsky says. "When we finally got back, I would sit in my office and literally watch the rescue workers pull bodies out of the wreckage below. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to do something to try to help the city recover." Pinsky initially started with the NYCEDC as vice president in the financing group. He became president of the agency in February 2008.

After graduating from Stanford with a public policy degree, Shobawale worked for an international think tank in Washington, D.C. He then spent two years in Honduras and Guatemala ("drawing upon the command of Spanish I developed in Senora Runyon's classes") with a small not-for-profit organization facilitating solar energy-based electrification in rural areas. He received a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from MIT and then worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company before taking a position in the NYCEDC strategic planning department. Shobawale currently oversees the business operations of the agency.

Although the two men took different paths to their jobs, both share a passion for their work. According to Pinsky, "After many years of working in industries where I learned a lot, but fundamentally didn't care that much about what I was doing, it is nice to feel passionately about my work." Shobawale says, "Perhaps the most interesting element is gaining a better understanding of how local politics and the media influence the shaping of public policy, often for the worse. On the other hand, it is gratifying to develop and implement policies to create opportunities for local people. When things go well we create direct impact."

Despite not knowing each other well while students at Blake, Pinsky says that he enjoys "the connection that our shared high school experience provides us." Both feel Blake provided them with a firm educational foundation, especially, according to Shobawale, "the ability to write well."

More information about the New York City Economic Development Corporation is available at www.nycedc.com, and the link "About Us" includes profiles of Pinsky and Shobawale. Both men live in Brooklyn — Pinsky in Park Slope and Shobawale in Fort Green with his wife, Sheethal.

--Jan Woolman