Five years ago, HBS professor Francis J. Aguilar (now emeritus) and Walter Y. Elisha (MBA '65), then chairman and CEO of Springs Industries, Inc., brought together a dynamic coalition of corporations and business schools to address the challenge of increasing the number of minorities embarking on careers in management. The Management Education Alliance comprises several of the country's leading business schools (including Harvard's), ten predominantly minority business schools, and thirteen U.S. companies. Since its founding, the Alliance has become an important force in fostering excellence in business education at institutions of higher learning serving primarily African Americans and Hispanic Americans.

"It is an issue of national importance that minority communities achieve economic success," Aguilar says. "So we want to help these students receive a first-class business education and help companies tap into this incredible talent pool."

When he first began visiting historically black colleges, Aguilar recalls, he discovered that few faculty members were conversant with the teaching of business practice. As a result, the Alliance concentrated initially on faculty development, leveraging HBS's strength in this area by launching a series of programs designed to connect professors to practice. The group has since sponsored workshops on the case method, interactive learning, and research techniques, among other topics, and enabled faculty to attend executive education seminars and participate in internships with member corporations.

In addition, the Alliance has put a priority on helping each school develop an educational strategy focused on business practice. "Developing competitive niches is particularly important for schools with limited resources and name recognition," Aguilar says. "To attract top students, they need to offer career opportunities by providing skills relevant to targeted corporations."

Recently, the Alliance turned its attention to connecting member corporations with talented minority students through internships and recruiting. In 1998 it began an "inside track" recruiting program, in which a faculty member from a minority school establishes a relationship with a particular company. He or she then identifies one or two high-potential students and encourages them to interview with that firm.

Another new Alliance program is a "Teaching with Technology" initiative. Harvard Business School hosted a workshop on this topic last June, and HBS Publishing has made new CD-ROM cases available to Alliance schools. "We're constantly evolving," Aguilar says. "It's very exciting. If we can help even two or three schools give their students a first-class management education, it will have a lasting impact on so many lives."

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