MBL Member Honored

We extend congratulations to Lillian Lincoln Lambert, who was honored by the Harvard Business School's African American Student Union's (AASU) 35th Annual H. Naylor Fitzhugh Conference held in Boston Massachusetts.

At this occasion Harvard MBAs and Heritage Link Brands' co-founders Selena and Khary Cuffe presented Ms. Lambert with two Delta Airlines Business Elite tickets to Johannesburg and a letter detailing elegant accommodations provided by the FNB Conference Centre for her and her husband during the Festival in September. Heritage Link Brands LLC, the first U.S. company to exclusively import and distribute black-produced African wines, awarded Lillian Lincoln Lambert _ the first African American woman to graduate from Harvard Business School (HBA) (1969) – with a complimentary trip to the 2007 Soweto Wine & Brandy Festival.

Mr. H. Naylor Fitzhugh is best known as the earliest African American alumni of Harvard, was shunned by recruiters despite his excellent academic performance and returned to his native Washington, DC, where he became a leader and activist in the African-American business community. He was subsequently asked to teach a business course at Howard University, beginning an association spanning three decades during which he left a legendary mark on the school and its business curriculum.

In 1965, Mr. Fitzhugh accepted a marketing position at the Pepsi-Cola Company, which led to his history-making work in establishing the African American community as a lucrative mass market and creating the concept of target marketing in corporate America. He continued to introduce young people to the field of business through the development of education programs, and also maintained ties to HBS, helping to found the Black Alumni Association and becoming its first chairman in 1978.

Among those mentored by Mr. Fitzhugh was Lillian Lincoln Lambert, his research assistant at Howard, who became the first African American woman to graduate from HBS.

Ms. Lambert an active member of the Metropolitan Business League, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors.