Each year, hundreds of HBS alumni volunteer with their local alumni clubs and associations to offer pro-bono consulting to nonprofits in their communities. This year, the pandemic forced a rapid re-thinking of how that work was delivered, and ignited a renewed urgency to support community organizations.

“The past year was a big challenge,” says Steven Phillips (MBA 1983), co-chair of the board for Community Partners of the HBS Club of Connecticut. The program, which provides pro-bono consulting and education to nonprofit leaders, averages 14 projects a year with between 35 and 50 alumni volunteers. While the pandemic changed the way things were done, it didn’t stop the work. “We were able to have more interaction with our clients via Zoom, and in some cases, that allowed our volunteers to serve on projects that would have been too far away, otherwise.”

Along with pandemic-related shifts, the Black Lives Matter movement inspired a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion in the alumni club ranks and in projects and programming. The Community Partners programs of the HBS Club of Connecticut and the HBS Association of Oregon, like many other HBS alumni clubs and associations focused on pro-bono consulting, have been reaffirming their commitment to racial equity in a variety of ways.

Phillips says the Connecticut program has launched a Diversity Task Force to reassess its processes from top to bottom. The program’s 2020 annual report sums it up best: “Many nonprofits serve minorities in their communities, and the Black Lives Matter movement galvanized a fresh look at who and how they serve clients who need help. We at Community Partners examined our record. Without consciously focusing on diversity, we found that for each of the past three years, over half of our projects had been conducted for nonprofits focused on minority communities and that 25% of the nonprofit executive directors we awarded scholarships to attend the SPNM program at HBS were African Americans. But we were not sure these statistics told the full story, so we formed a Diversity Task Force to explore how we can expand the range of nonprofits we serve and to attract more diverse alumni volunteers for our projects and board.”

Phillips says that while alumni who get involved with Community Partners are “already interested in helping underserved communities, we had to look at ourselves. Most of our board is old white guys, so we’re asking, what are we doing to appeal to minority alumni? Are we serving nonprofits that deal with racism? Are we missing something and not realizing it?”

The Diversity Task Force is “exploring practices that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work and in our communications; it is also reviewing the current practices of projects, board composition, volunteer profile, and awards and making recommendations to strengthen our organization in these areas,” according to the annual report.

The Task Force recently ran a focus group with several nonprofit directors of color who gave their insights on working with Community Partners. They stressed the critical need for diversity on the program’s board and the need to treat directors of color with respect and authenticity, as they know best what their clients need.

Phillips says nine of the club’s Community Partners client organizations for 2021 are in line with its DEI objectives, including Access Education Systems, a STEM program for inner city youth; the Alliance for Community Empowerment, an early education and youth development initiative serving eight communities; and the Housatonic Community College Foundation.

The Community Partners program at the HBS Association of Oregon has an average of 35 volunteers serving clients primarily in Greater Portland, but also across the state, according to Co-Chair Hsiang-Yi Lin (MBA 2008).

“Portland has one of the highest concentrations of nonprofits serving underserved communities,” says Lin. “Because we’re a smaller club, we can be nimble. We try to meet the community’s needs in creative ways.”

That means that in addition to consulting projects, we are able to offer clients brainstorming sessions for focused, high-impact problem-solving, and six-week-long, focused projects for organizations that don’t need the typical three-month intensive commitment. This was especially important during the pandemic, as organizations faced uncertainties and had needs beyond consulting services.

Regarding racial equity, Lin says alumni in the club are eager to help.

“Seeing HBS stepping up to this is commendable, but we have to remember we are privileged,” she says. “In order to have the greatest, most meaningful impact, we need to partner with the organizations that have the trust of the communities they serve.”

For the Oregon Community Partners, that has meant teaming up with Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon (MESO), a micro-lending organization providing entrepreneurs of color with opportunities for financial coaching and access to micro loans that mainstream banks don’t provide.

“We’ve worked with MESO for two consecutive years,” says Lin. “We helped them scale their approach across different markets, and during the pandemic, when the in-person connection to their existing and potential clients became difficult, we helped them figure out how they could still expand their impact by helping them devise a marketing strategy and securing pro-bono PR services through our networks.”

By working with MESO, Lin says Community Partners is able to support their mission to serve 500 entrepreneurs.

“They know the community well,” she says. “We use our leverage and funnel our impact through them.”

The HBS Alumni Angels Association recentlypresented a webinar featuring the Morgan Stanley Multicultural Innovation Lab, a groundbreaking accelerator promoting financial inclusion and access to capital for early-stage, technology-enabled companies led by women and multicultural entrepreneurs. Young companies accepted to the program receive mentorship, access to networks, and customized business curriculum.

The lab’s founder and co-chair, Carla Harris (MBA 1987), Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley, and co-chair Alice Vilma (MBA 2007)

Managing Director of the Multicultural Group at Morgan Stanley, told the virtual audience of nearly 70 alumni that the lab has incubated more than 40 companies worth $306 million since its launch in 2019.

Moderated by Betsy Odita (MBA 1998), Executive Director of Ultra-High Net Worth Strategy at Morgan Stanley and Deal Co-Chair, Alumni Angels, HBS Club of New York, the panel talked about the accelerator’s goal to close the gap in capital going to women and multicultural entrepreneurs.

“We were the first Wall Street firm to do this,” said Harris. “There was no blueprint. We tapped our personal networks to get the first companies. We were five-for-five with our first cohort. And then once we started, we had flow. And, since the social justice movement surged in the last year, 75% of VCs now believe they can invest in founders of color and have outsized returns.”

With 11 companies in their latest cohort, Harris and Vilma shared their insights on how they choose entrepreneurs for the accelerator and how potential angel investors can help entrepreneurs of color by shifting perspectives.

“Open your networks, do your homework and understand who the entrepreneurs are,” said Vilma. “Often the best support is in extending your network to them. Be expansive.”

Hosted by Jean Kovacs (MBA 1985), co-president of the HBS Alumni Angels Association, the webinar was just one of dozens the club produces every year.

“We’ve been doing webinars since long before COVID, and we record and post each one to our continuous learning portal on our website,” says Kovacs. “The webinar series is part of our educational mission to provide current and topical information about startup investing and entrepreneurship to our global community.”

Kovacs adds that the HBS Alumni Angels Association is one of the largest alumni clubs at HBS, with 1,000 members in 15 countries globally.

The monthly webinars focus on either core principals of angel investing and entrepreneurship, or on more general, current topics, such as making a pitch, or introducing a product during a pandemic. Kovacs says they are developed with a variety of alumni experience in mind.

“Our audience is split,” she says. “Some older alumni are looking to give back with their expertise, and there’s also a huge interest from more recent grads in their first 10 years out of HBS. They want to learn.”

Jason Klein (MBA 1986), co-president of HBS Alumni Angels Association and Chapter Lead, Alumni Angels, HBS Club of New York, says the most popular webinar is Angel Investing 101, basically a primer course repeated often throughout the year for new members.

“Our goal is to introduce alumni to angel investing,” he says. “Many are familiar with evaluating companies, but not at the early, start-up phase. There are so many nuances to early-stage investing, so we devote a lot of time to it. We hold an angel investor orientation every quarter as well.”

Klein says the focus on investor education has several benefits.

“Startups and entrepreneurs find great value in working with us,” he says. “It’s incredibly hands-on. You’re practicing and applying your business skills, and collaborating with other HBS alumni. Our members put in so much of their own time helping with pitch nights and educational events or helping seed nonprofits that many end up changing careers after joining and learning. Some go full-time into venture capital.”

The HBS Alumni Angels will hold its first-ever virtual global conference beginning May 12. For more information visit https://www.hbsangels.com.

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