McKissack & McKissack: Building Generational Power Through Structure, Strategy, and Black Excellence
Introduction: The Blueprint of the Oldest Black-Owned Construction Dynasty
Most business stories fade in a generation, but McKissack & McKissack has stood for more than a century.
What started as the vision of Moses McKissack III and his brother Calvin became the foundation for one of the most influential Black-owned architecture and construction firms in the United States.
Their family blueprint is about building generational power and passing down the code to create wealth, control, and lasting impact.
Only a few families can say they transformed an enslaved ancestor’s skill into a national brand known for airports, universities, hospitals, and civic landmarks.
That transformation is what makes this family not just historic, but instructive for anyone serious about lasting wealth.
From Slavery to Sovereignty: Craft Passed Down the Bloodline
The McKissack story begins before the official founding of the firm in 1922. Moses and Calvin McKissack were direct descendants of an enslaved craftsman who learned the building trade from a plantation owner and passed that skill on to his family.
This transfer of knowledge: forced under oppression but reclaimed as a tool of freedom became the DNA of the McKissack dynasty. Their Ashanti ancestry from West Africa gave their story even deeper resonance. Architecture was not just work. It was cultural continuity.
As each generation inherited the trade, the family didn’t just preserve skill, they refined it. Craftsmanship became literacy in contracts, financing, and client relationships.
The family refused to let their skill be stripped of ownership.
When Moses and Calvin earned licenses as architects in the segregated South, they broke racial barriers and showed that Black professionals could not only design buildings, but also command the authority tied to them.
They understood early that contracts and management were as valuable as the craft itself.
Growing the Business: Expansion, Leadership, and Verticalization
From the 1920s through the civil rights era, McKissack & McKissack expanded its reach. They built schools, hospitals, and civic structures in the South, eventually winning government and private projects across the nation.
Each decade added more layers. By mid-century, the firm was not only building but also managing. They expanded into engineering, project consulting, and oversight of multi-million-dollar programs.
This vertical integration meant that McKissack could profit from multiple points in the building cycle: design, management, and execution.
Leadership never shifted randomly. When William DeBerry McKissack, a descendant in the third generation, suffered a stroke, his wife Leatrice Buchanan McKissack took over leadership.
Many companies would have collapsed under the weight of crisis. Instead, Leatrice expanded operations, recruited her daughters, and grew the portfolio.
Under her leadership, the firm landed contracts with Howard University, civil rights museums, and federal projects. She turned succession into strength, proving that discipline and family unity could keep control in-house even in crisis.
Cheryl McKissack Daniel: Fifth Generation, Modern Vision
Today, Cheryl McKissack Daniel carries the mantle as President & CEO. She is not just a custodian of the past but an architect of the future. With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Howard University and further study at Columbia University, Cheryl brought technical authority and academic credibility to the role.
In 2000, she made a decisive move: she bought the firm from her mother, paid out other shareholders, dissolved the old entity, and relaunched it under her sole ownership.
This was was a consolidation of power that allowed Cheryl to streamline operations, reposition the brand, and target New York’s multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects.
By closing underperforming southern offices, she made the company leaner and more competitive. Today, McKissack & McKissack operates from Manhattan, focusing on airports, transit, hospitals, universities, and iconic public projects.
Cheryl also founded Legacy Engineers, a specialized firm for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection design.
This expanded the family’s technical capacity while also creating a training ground for young Black engineers. Legacy Engineers reflects Cheryl’s belief that control is not only about contracts but also about building a talent pipeline.
How McKissack Makes Money: Revenue Model and Operations
McKissack & McKissack is not a construction company in the traditional sense. They do not focus on swinging hammers. Their product is control, oversight, and expertise. Revenue comes from fee-for-service models:
- Program/Construction Management: Clients pay a fixed fee or a percentage of construction costs for services that include planning, scheduling, procurement, compliance, and oversight.
- Design and Engineering: Architecture and systems design, including MEP and fire protection, billed by project or hourly contracts.
- Joint Ventures: Partnerships with larger firms to compete for design-build and government projects that require collaboration.
- Diversity & Compliance: As a certified MWBE/DBE, McKissack is positioned to secure contracts where minority and women participation is mandated.
Projects like JFK Terminal One, LaGuardia Airport, Harlem Hospital, and the Studio Museum in Harlem highlight the firm’s ability to secure long-term, high-prestige contracts.
Their real service is being trusted as the “owner’s representative”—the firm that ensures billion-dollar projects are delivered on time, on budget, and compliant.
Succession, Ownership, and Business Infrastructure
McKissack & McKissack has endured because succession was handled with structure, not sentiment. Cheryl’s buyout in 2000 was a strategic move to eliminate fragmented ownership and consolidate authority.
This gave the company the agility to reposition and pursue mega-projects. Instead of multiple voices and diluted leadership, McKissack had one clear decision-maker.
Meanwhile, Cheryl’s twin sister, Deryl, established McKissack & McKissack in Washington, DC: an independent firm with its own portfolio, including national cultural icons like the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Together, the sisters run parallel companies that share lineage but operate independently, doubling the family footprint across two major hubs.
The New York firm employs roughly 150 staff and generates an estimated $50–$75 million in annual revenue. Funding comes from bank credit, surety bonding, and project-based cash flow: not venture capital or outside investors.
This independence ensures that decisions remain in family hands. There are no shadow owners or hidden investors directing the company.
The Business Machine: Operations and Winning Strategy
McKissack’s operational structure is disciplined and layered:
- Corporate Division: Finance, legal, human resources, and business development teams manage internal operations and external growth.
- Preconstruction: Experts handle estimating, scheduling, and procurement, ensuring projects are financially viable from the start.
- Program Controls: Teams manage cost, risk, scheduling, and documentation.
- Field Construction Management: Resident engineers and inspectors oversee safety, quality, and compliance on site.
- Design & Technical Services: Delivered in-house or through Legacy Engineers.
- Compliance & Community Engagement: Ensuring MWBE/DBE requirements, workforce diversity, and local hiring: all of which build credibility and win contracts.
McKissack’s strategy centers on leading high-profile infrastructure projects that guarantee visibility and prestige.
Their excellence in compliance and diversity makes them highly competitive in public procurement.
Their focus on project management delivers consistent, lower-risk revenue compared to firms that self-perform construction.
How the Family Blueprint Passes Down: Succession Code
The McKissack succession playbook has several key rules:
- Emergency continuity: When William suffered a stroke, his wife Leatrice stepped in immediately, proving the importance of leadership readiness.
- Ownership by transaction: Cheryl bought the company outright, eliminating uncertainty and consolidating control.
- Parallel scaling: Cheryl and Deryl expanded separately but kept the McKissack name strong across two regions.
- Formalized transitions: Every shift in power was documented, deliberate, and tied to a legal structure.
Succession in this family is not ceremonial. It is engineered. Each transition prepared the next leader to not only take over but also expand the business footprint.
Lessons for Primal Mogul: What to Learn, What to Copy
- Build for continuity, not just profit. Ensure your company can survive crises by preparing successors early.
- Control your cap table. Buy out distractions, consolidate ownership, and give your company the ability to pivot quickly.
- Invest in education and credibility. Technical degrees, licenses, and certifications create long-term authority in high-value fields.
- Pursue prestige projects. Airports, hospitals, and cultural landmarks bring revenue and reputation that compound for decades.
- Make compliance and diversity part of your strategy. These are not just boxes to tick; they are competitive advantages in public-sector business.
Consolidate to strengthen. Close underperforming products or divisions to strengthen the core.
Power Conclusion: Build Your Structure, Protect Your Bloodline
If you want to move past short-term wins and create a business that lasts, you need more than motivation.
You need systems, technical skill, and the courage to build a brand that can survive for five generations or more.
The McKissack family proves that structure, vision, and discipline create staying power.
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Cheryl McKissack On ‘The Black Family Who Built America,’ Black Solidarity, McKissack & McKissack
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