Babson’s 19th Black Affinity Conference a Rousing Success
Alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends came together this weekend in fellowship and celebration at Babson College’s 19th Black Affinity Conference on the Babson Boston and Wellesley campuses.
The event was organized by a committee of Babson students and the Babson Black Affinity Network, with a mission to advance diversity and inclusion, foster greater connections among Babson’s Black alumni, and have a meaningful impact on the experience of current and future students.
“We have an incredible opportunity to educate students on how to relate experiences at Babson to the world,” said Babson College President Kerry Healey during her address to the conference.
Aaron Walton ’83, Co‐Founder of Walton Isaacson (WI), a full-service advertising agency, with offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Miami, and Tokyo, delivered the keynote address. “Turn your dreams into a reality instead of thinking your ideas are a dream,” he advised the audience.
Governing Boards members participating included Overseers James Francis ’95 and Mikki E. Wosencroft ’99 and Trustee Amanda G. Strong ’87.
Dr. Sadie Burton-Goss and Katrina Fludd ’08, MS’10 received the conference’s Black Affinity Achievement Awards during the BAC Gala in Knight Auditorium.
Sadie Burton-Goss, Ph.D. is Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Babson College. As CDIO, she provides strategic leadership and counsel, driving Babson’s mission to continuously create and sustain a culture of inclusion for all members of the Babson community (students, faculty, staff, and alumni). She came to Babson following a distinguished career as an internal and external senior leader, consultant, and successful entrepreneur focused on the development of high performing diverse leaders and organizations.
Katrina Fludd served for many years as Babson’s Manager, Multicultural Programs, Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion, where she wrote: “I have two passions. Weaving together business functions to create and maximize value for what are perceived to be problems (also known as entrepreneurship) and validating all aspects of identity, both personal and societal (also known as diversity or multiculturalism). I believe the former cannot sustainably exist without the latter. The current global economy is a visible indicator of this.” She now works at Princeton University as a Senior Diversity and Inclusion Specialist.
Other conference events included a college update on relevant topics, and panels on Intellectual Property, Maximizing Your 5 to 9, Mindmaping, and As Seen On TV: Why Representation Matters.
Students, alumni, and professionals experienced the new Babson Boston Campus with a panel and a Career Fair.
The BAC Gala provided the Saturday evening festivities. Sunday morning saw a Worship Service with a sermon by Cyril G. Guerra, Jr. `95. The weekend came to a close with a final brunch in Trim Dining Hall.
