Latino Alumni Reunite for 18th Annual Banquet

The HBS Latino Alumni Association held its 18th Annual Banquet on April 29, drawing more than 100 HBS alumni and guests—including current and prospective HBS students—to the Harvard Club of New York City. The event marked the club’s return to an in-person banquet following the pandemic, and featured a fireside chat during dinner with special guest Jorge O. Elorza, the 38th mayor of Providence, Rhode Island.

“Mayor Elorza is a great speaker and very charismatic,” says Eduardo Weinstein (MBA 2009), HBSLAA board member and moderator for the conversation with Elorza. “We chose him to speak because has had a very inspiring life and career, and because of his Latino heritage many of our members can relate to his experiences. On top of that, he’s a Harvard Law School alumnus and a leader. The focus of his talk was around leadership and his life story—which was super powerful, particularly for this group. He’s also a great example of giving back to the community. He went from an academic career to public service, and that’s very inspiring also.”

Born and raised in Providence, Elorza attended the University of Rhode Island before heading to Harvard Law School. He went on to serve as a Legal Aid attorney, a Providence Housing Court judge, and then a professor at Roger Williams University School of Law, where he cofounded the Latino Policy Institute. He has been an outspoken national voice on immigration reform, housing, and early childhood education.

“We had a blast,” says Weinstein. “There was such great energy and camaraderie. It was just nice seeing people in-person. The purpose of the banquet is to reinforce the connection to HBS and to each other. We had alumni and their families, some current HBS students, as well as admitted students and some in the application process. It was a chance for us to reconnect and for the new students to learn more about the Latino community at HBS. It was fantastic.”

HBS Latino Alumni Association Banquet

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza

Beyond the club’s annual banquet, Weinstein says the HBSLAA has produced a series of events this year to promote and increase Latino representation, engagement, and leadership in the tech industry.

The Latinx Technologists Initiative (LTI), spearheaded by Raysana Hurtado Amador (MBA 2017), aims to “expose the Latino community to impactful roles in tech, while creating a network of Latino innovators who make a difference in the world.” The effort is in response to the very low percentage of people of color working in tech while demand is rising. A 2019 survey by Morgan Stanley, for instance, found that investing in diverse entrepreneurs is a priority for 40 percent of VC firms, but VC firms have fewer people of color than other types of firms.

Through a series of LTI webinars, the club is featuring prominent Latino tech leaders and ambassadors who provide resources for HBSLAA members who want to continue to grow as, or become, technologists. So far, the webinars topics have included: Building an EdTech Company; Finding Your Technical Cofounder; and Demystifying Technical Investing. More LTI webinars are in planning stages as well.

HBS Club of Dallas Marks 75 Years with a Peek at City’s Bright Future

To kick off a year of activities celebrating its 75th anniversary, the HBS Club of Dallas recently presented a fireside chat on “The Future of Dallas,” with Cullum Clark, an urban economist and thought leader on the future of cities.

Van Sheets (right), welcomes guest Cullum Clark (left)

“The Dallas region is, in 15 years, going to be the third-largest urban area in the US, after New York and Los Angeles,” says outgoing club president Van Sheets (MBA 1983). “So we had Cullum for our first event because we know that a very Dallas way of talking about our past is to talk about the future.”

Clark, a longtime friend of Sheets, is the director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative, an adjunct professor of economics at SMU, and leads the Bush Institute’s work on domestic economic policy and economic growth. Earlier this year, Clark was a featured guest on the Freakonomics podcast episode entitled, “Why is Everyone Moving to Dallas?”

Sheets served as moderator for the fireside chat, held in the atrium of event sponsor Southern Botanical in Dallas. Approximately 80 alumni and guests attended the hour-long conversation, exploring the reasons behind the city’s growth.

A relatively affordable, high quality of life, and an exceptionally welcoming local culture, combined with growth-friendly public policies are at the core of the boom in Dallas, according to Clark. The discussion also touched upon some key trends in job creation, a growing Hispanic population, and the “purpling” of suburbs as other reasons for growth, while crime, low-quality public education, and transportation issues pose significant challenges.

Sheets says the conversation also touched on the need to invest in underprivileged neighborhoods, how to make economic growth more inclusive of a diverse population, and the pros and cons of rapid growth.

The fireside chat was recorded, and excerpts from the conversation will be available on the club’s website. In addition, incoming club president Nancy Schmitt (MBA 1991) conducted brief video interviews with alumni attendees, who shared their memories of the club. These interviews will be done at all of the anniversary events over the next year, and then compiled and shared online. “It may be like a video yearbook,” says Sheets. “And maybe some folks will see a friend or classmate and call them up, or maybe share their own stories. We’ll see what happens. It might be one of the most fun parts of the celebrations.”

The HBS Club of Dallas was established in 1947, initially offering programs such as lunches with local business leaders, pro-bono consulting for local nonprofits, and holiday parties. More recently, the club has greatly expanded programming to include in-person events throughout the city, virtual events coproduced with other HBS clubs, Alumni Forums, insider tours of local companies, and shared interest groups.

Sheets says the club will continue the anniversary celebrations with a wide variety of programs and activities throughout the year. They include a tour of Toyota North America headquarters, which recently moved to Dallas; special seminars on real estate, since, he says, Dallas is described as the Wall Street of the real estate industry; and programs featuring the emerging tech center of North Dallas. Sheets is also planning to feature some books about Dallas in a book group he’s organizing for the club.

In all club planning, Sheets says, the board is focused on developing programs that build relationships, through content that encourages engaging discussions and personal interactions that help members feel welcome and connected. “Everything is driven by making great connections happen,” says Sheets. “This anniversary year will be no different.”

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