Mar 28

Mar 28 The Godmother of Prince George’s County’s Small Business Development

The Passing Of MBE Compliance Manager Mirinda Jackson

By Raoul Dennis

There are people who are generational icons in the work they do because they have gone beyond the work itself. Their passion for the work, the sport, or the effort they champion is greater than achieving the simple goal or winning the next game. They embody their work so deeply that it spills over into a charismatic charm that one can’t help but be drawn into and then motivated and elevated by.

This is what we see in personalities like Muhammad Ali and Michael Jackson. Singer Bono and today’s Taylor Swift fit the profile.

Quietly, but clearly, Mirinda Jackson was one of those people.

Jackson, the county’s Minority Business Enterprise Compliance Manager led a career that spanned five decades of public service. She knew the law, the components of the work, the leaders, and trendsetters within local and regional business. Jackson understood the [delicacy] and the nuances of race and opportunity for small and minority businesses, and she was ever determined to help erode the barriers – brick by brick if necessary.

Jackson died March 20, 2024.

“With 15 years in the position and her experience fighting for balance in ensuring minority participation in business, Mirinda was one of the region's most respected professionals on both sides of the contracting table,” wrote Prince George’s County Economic Development President and CEO David Iannucci.

In any given conversation with Jackson, she routinely dropped pearls of business-building wisdom. She had a knack for getting and keeping a generation of county small business leaders engaged in the process---all while recognizing that the ground that enabled small start-ups has been continually shrinking since the 1980s. And today, as affirmative action efforts are being dismantled across the nation, Jackson pushed the unofficial as well as the official pathways to contracts and success.

Jackson’s secret sauce for success was born out of her own style and approach toward her career: ‘keep your head down, be quiet, be steady and get things done.’ Starting her career in the 1960s, the veteran manager avoided the then-popular methods of protest, boycotts and pushing for change from inside the system. “I didn’t wear the big afro and draw a lot of attention,” she said. “I was low key, but I got the work done and I found solutions to problems. The boss likes the spotlight but the people who know how to get things done are the ones who stick around and grow. Those people don’t need the spotlight like the boss does.”

She always pushed the value of networking and relationship building as better keys to winning contracts over distraction and statistics. Jackson was also a big advocate of avoiding being indebted to anyone. It creates false goals and distracts from one’s best work.

But what will be missed most may be Jackson’s raw passion for elevating small and minority business owners. This went beyond the clock and the paycheck. She went above and beyond to share a link or offer a better contact or identify a source that might not have been on the radar. Jackson loved the quiet corner of the building her office was nestled in but thrived in the world of competitive opportunity. She came from the generation that demanded that successful business owners had an obligation to reach back and help the next wave of business leaders get over the wall as well. Today’s gig economy, agenda-oriented, self-branding generation of professionals may not be as inclined toward business nurturing and public service in the way that guided Mirinda’s commitment.

But Jackson wouldn’t say that. She’d say: “Don’t think of it like that. Just keep going, keep pushing. Never say never.”