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The theme of this year’s annual HBS African-American Alumni
Association (HBSAAA)
conference, “Navigating Success in Volatile Times,” seemed
particularly apropos after the incidents of September 11. “Like
many organizations with events scheduled in the weeks following
the tragedy in New York, we grappled with whether we should cancel,”
said HBSAAA president Ken Powell (MBA ’74). “We decided
to go ahead because we wanted to contribute to New York’s economic
recovery as well as unite to support one another in difficult times,”
added Powell. The October 5–7 event drew more than two hundred
participants to the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
The 2001 program featured six panel discussions and five keynote
addresses and provided a multidimensional exploration of the changing
landscape for personal and professional development. “We chose
our theme in January, and it proved acutely relevant,” Powell
observed. “Through our network of contacts, we assembled an
extraordinary group of business and community leaders who, in light
of events that were still unfolding, spoke from the heart to inspire
as well as inform us.” Honorary conference chair Ann Fudge
(MBA ’77), for example, reminded attendees that their most
important “customers” are the people in their lives, and
Saturday evening’s keynote speaker, New York Times managing
editor Gerald Boyd, underscored the need for courage, strength,
and deeper self-knowledge in the challenging times ahead.
Thomas Jones, chairman and CEO of Citigroup’s Global Investment
Management and Private Banking Group, prefaced his opening address
on Friday evening with a moving account of his return to Lower Manhattan
following the destruction of Citigroup’s offices at 7 World
Financial Center. Attendees then turned their attention to the original
conference theme. On Saturday morning, Lloyd Trotter, president
and CEO of GE Industrial Systems, gave an insider’s view of
GE’s legendary operating principles and culture. “The
adage by which we do business is, If it’s not broken, break
it … then put it together again, only better. Change is the
constant that forces us to reinvent ourselves,” he said.
Throughout the day, panelists shared valuable strategies and lessons
from a wide range of career paths and industries. The distinguished
list of presenters included Paula Banks (AMP:ISMP 154), vice president,
global social investment, BP; Warner Williams, vice president, health,
environment, and safety, ChevronTexaco; and HBS professors David
Thomas and James Cash. A dynamic discussion about the future of
leadership in the African-American community featured Vernon Jordan,
senior managing director at Lazard Frères; National Urban
League president Hugh Price; and New York State Comptroller Carl
McCall. Deborah Wright (MBA/JD ’84), president and CEO of Carver
Bancorp, provided closing remarks on Sunday.
“We designed the conference to bridge industries, functions,
and generations,” said conference chair Margaret Young (MBA
’81), general manager of Ogilvy Consulting, who praised the
contributions of some fifty volunteers as well as top sponsors Accenture
and Citigroup Private Bank. “We are determined to move forward
and make a difference. I believe everyone walked away with a greater
understanding of issues that will have a far-reaching impact on
our lives,” Young added.
The HBSAAA’s second annual preconference, Venture Capital
and Private Equity Summit, was held on Friday. The program, titled
“Building New Networks,” drew 160 participants, primarily
entrepreneurs and investment professionals, for seven preselected
venture presentations, networking, and professional development
seminars. Professor Josh Lerner led “Anatomy of a Venture Deal,”
an incisive discussion about the financing of B2eMarkets, a technology-based
sourcing company established in 1999. The conversation included
B2eMarkets cofounder, president, and CEO Orville Bailey (MBA ’94)
and five members of the company’s investor group.
Previous HBSAAA conferences, held each year on Columbus Day weekend,
have been presented in San Francisco, Chicago, and Atlanta. Washington,
D.C., will be the site of the 2002 conference. The HBSAAA also hosts
local gatherings throughout the year that are geared toward the
more than thirteen hundred HBS alumni of African descent. “The
long-term value of our HBS experience continues whenever we recreate
the energy we shared in the classroom and learn from one another,”
noted Powell, a former president of the HBS Alumni Association.
— Mary Ellen Gardner
For more information on the HBSAAA or the conference’s
agenda, visit www.hbsaaa.org.
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John
P. Kotter, the former Konosuke Matsushita Professor of
Leadership, a noted authority on leadership in complex business
organizations, joined the HBS faculty in 1972. He taught for
many years in both the Executive Education and the MBA Programs
and developed important courses on the subject of leadership,
including the MBA elective Power and Influence. He is the
author of numerous influential articles and books, including
A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management;
Matsushita Leadership: Lessons from the 20th Centuryís
Most Remarkable Entrepreneur; John P. Kotter on What
Leaders Really Do; and Leading Change. A graduate
of MIT, where he also earned an MS degree in 1970, Kotter
received his DBA from HBS in 1972. 
