LEFA Information

LEFA stands for Lifelong E-mail Forwarding Address. It is derived from a combination of the first letter of your first name, your last name, and your graduating HBS program. For example:

Jane Doe, MBA '07, would be: jdoe@mba2007.hbs.edu

Your LEFA serves two purposes:

• E-mail Forwarding System

  As an e-mail forwarding address, LEFAs make it easier for alumni around the world to connect to each other via e-mail. Please understand that your LEFA is a forwarding address for e-mail, not an actual e-mail address. An e-mail sent to your LEFA is forwarded by the LEFA servers to a personal e-mail address that you designate. The LEFA is not a traditional e-mail account that you might check via the Web or via a POP server.
  

• HBS Alumni Website Username

  Your LEFA, coupled with your password, will give you online access to the HBS Alumni Directory, Alumni Job Bank, Class Notes, HBS Videotools, and other alumni benefits. The unique portion of your LEFA (e.g. jdoe@mba2007) is your username. Once active, you may use this to log into the Alumni Website by using the yellow log-in box at the top right of any page on the Alumni Website.

Designate an e-mail address in order to take advantage of your HBS LEFA.

• Your password

  All HBS Alumni have been assigned a random password. If you've forgotten your password, but you have your LEFA forwarding set up, you may reset your password here. If you've never set up your LEFA or password, please contact the Alumni Records Office at 617.495.6438. You may also change your password online.

• Appropriate Use

  HBS has provided you with a LEFA so that you can stay better connected with the School and with your classmates. LEFAs are not intended for purposes of promotion or solicitation and should not be used as official business addresses or for financial communications.

  HBS is capable of determining misuse of the LEFA system. In the case of misuse, HBS reserves the right to deactivate and/or terminate a graduate's LEFA.

• Spam and Virus Filtering

  Since the LEFA servers forward a high volume of messages, large Internet Service Providers require HBS to filter and delete spam sent to LEFA addresses. In Summer 2003 HBS implemented a central virus filtering system and in Spring 2005 HBS implemented a central spam solution. The spam solution deletes all identified incoming spam. This system is regarded as one with one of the highest success rates and the lowest false positive rate in the business.

  Because of our spam filter's sensitivity, there is also a possibility that some messages may be incorrectly labelled as spam and deleted before being forwarded to you. This is why we recommend that you do not use your LEFA for business purposes.

  Despite our efforts, spam messages will still be delivered to your forwarding address. Spam accounts for more than 80% of all e-mail delivered globally every day, and spammers are getting more clever and using more robust tools to get their messages through e-mail filtering programs. Please know that we are consistently working on improving our spam filters, but there is no way to eliminate all spam e-mail delivery.

  The best way to combat spam through your LEFA is to use your personal e-mail address' spam reporting feature. Web-based e-mail applications like GMail and Yahoo! Mail and desktop applications like Outlook and Eudora all have robust spam-reporting functionality built-in that can learn and adapt based on what messages you flag as spam. If you do receive a legitimate e-mail from HBS, please do not mark it as spam. Instead, click the unsubscribe link that is included at the bottom of the e-mail. This will help our LEFA forwarding service avoid being blacklisted from the larger ISPs.