Undergraduate Blog / Defining Your Babson

Black Student Union Members Attend 44th H. Naylor Fitzhugh Conference

Post by Black Student Union

This was the first year that the Black Student Union was in attendance at the Harvard Business School H. Naylor Fitzhugh Conference, which was sponsored by their African American Student Union. We traveled in a total of 14 students, 12 undergraduates and 2 graduate students. The conference’s theme was Redefining Expectations and featured keynotes from Kenneth Chenault, Chairman and CEO of American Express (2nd African-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company), Deval Patrick (MA’s first black Governor), and Richelieu Dennis (CEO of Sundial Brands and Babson alumnus!). It was an excellent experience as the conference was attended by undergraduate students, MBA students, faculty, and corporate professionals and executives. Being in this atmosphere was inspiring. The conference theme was perfect, but we seldom see an accurate representation of black people in the media, and more so, in business. The Naylor Fitzhugh Conference was a chance to see what black excellence looks like in business, entrepreneurship, and corporate America.

It was also amazing to hear a keynote from Babson alumnus, Richelieu Dennis. Rich graduated from Babson in 1991, and hails from Liberia. After graduating from Babson, he and his roommate Nyema headed for NYC where they started their journey to build Sundial Brands. Rich’s keynote focused on the successes and challenges of running a family business that’s growing as fast as his.

Thank you to the Undergraduate Professional Accelerator Fund for making our attendance at this event possible!