Hilda Pinnix-Ragland

Bio

Hilda Pinnix-Ragland 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.

After Progress Energy merged with Duke Energy in 2012, she was named the Vice President of Corporate Public Affairs. In this capacity, she worked with public officials at the local, state, and federal levels to develop public policies to protect consumers and businesses. Pinnix-Ragland retired from Duke Energy in June 2016. 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. She also serves as the Vice Chair of Progress Energy’s Corporate Diversity Council.

In 2013, she served on the board of directors of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine. She also serves on the board of directors for Southwest Water Company, serves as vice-chair of the board of directors at RTI International, and is a consultant with TVA Power. She served as chairwoman of the board of directors of the North Carolina Community College System, as co-chair of Wake Invests in Women, and as chair of the board of directors of the American Association of Blacks in Energy. She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and is also a co-chair of Wake Education Partnership. 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. 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. She was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama to serve on the board of the National Park Foundation.

Ragland founded STEMulus Academy, a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics program for fifth grade girls in Wake County. 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, where she also serves as the chairwoman of the board of trustees.

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. In 2012 she was listed as one of the Top 100 Influential Women in Corporate America by Savoy Magazine. She was awarded the Education Award for Leadership in Community Colleges by Joe Biden. In 2017 Triangle Business Journal presented Pinnix-Ragland with the Women in Business Lifetime Achievement Award. She was inducted into the 2020 Lifetime Hall of Fame for NCA&T State University Business School.

In May 2017 she co-authored the book The Energy Within Us: An Illuminating Perspective from Five Trailblazers.

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. They have one daughter and live in Cary, North Carolina. She and her husband are members of Carolina Country Club in Raleigh, North Carolina. They were the first African-American members in the country club’s 103-year history when they joined in 2013. She is Episcopalian and teaches Sunday school at St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Raleigh.