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professional exposure of the membership to the business community; 3) To provide continuing business education as a means of improving and maintaining the skills of the Black manager; and 4) To assist the entry of interested Blacks into the business environment.
Through the use of seminars, guest speakers, panels, open discussions, and the Newsletter, the Association has established, and strives to maintain a link of communication for its members.
Each local Chapter provides a broad range of events which are beneficial to its membership. In general, most of the events are in seminar form covering such topics as investment, tax shelters, succeeding in various industries, business start-ups, sources of venture capital, professional recruitment, interviewing techniques, self-merchandising and general gatherings where personal corporate experiences are shared as points of information. In an effort to serve the community, career seminars for high school and college students are held at the Chapter level.
Currently, 70% of the approximately 1,500 financial members are graduates from the top ten business schools. The 1981 estimate for MBA's in the U.S. is approximately 500,000. About 2% of the MBA's are Black. Therefore, we have currently the potential of 10,000 members.
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NEW YORK-Black business professionals from across the U.S.-some 600-plus from corporations, government, colleges and universities, and others who own their own firms-will convene, rap and problem-solve this week (Oct. 6-9) at the New York Hilton Hotel. The occasion will be at the 4th Annual Conference of the National Black MBA Association.
The theme of the conference is, Crossroads: New Directions for the 1980. The Association has assembled top-flight leaders and experts from the corporate sector, private enterprise and government to help develop New Directions.
Over 600 students from graduate business schools around the U.S. will be on hand to listen to and learn from the pros at the Job Fair/Employment Exchange Program to be held all-day Friday.
NBMBAA was organized in New York in 1974 and today lists some 4,000 MBAs and students pursuing the degree.
Participants, forum leaders and keynoters will include:
[[bullet pointed list]]
Willie Davis, BS '56 Grambling and MBA '68 University of Chicago. Davis starred with the Green Bay Packers for many years (Hall of Fame '75) and today is a successful Los Angeles business man.

Charles T. Grant, MBA DePaul University '75. President of Fort Dearborn Paper Co., Chicago (1982 sales: $15-17 million), and NBMBAA national president.

Lenora Cartwright, Commissioner Human Services, Chicago.

Percy E. Sutton, board chairman, Inner City Broadcasting.

Bernard E. Anderson, MBA Michigan State University '61 and Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania '70. He's director of Social Sciences for the Rockefeller Foundation.

Alfred E. Osborne, Jr., MBA Stanford '71 and Ph.D. Stanford '74. Dr. Osborne is Assistant Dean and Director of the MBA Program at UCLA Graduate School of Management. 

Alphonzia Wellington, Jr., BA Oberlin College and MBA Wharton School of Finance. President of a marketing research and planning firm, he's an expert on market segmentation, black consumer choices and buying patterns.

Wendell Gunn, White House Special Assistant to the President for Policy Development.
[[/bullet point list]]

Sarah E. Blair conference chairperson, summarized the mood of her colleagues: "Pronounced setbacks have occurred in the degree of external support directed toward redressing obstacles that threaten upward mobility among Blacks. Education is the key to that mobility...but there is one critical difference we (Black MBAs) have established a foundation with sufficient depth to facilitate advancement in the face of adversity."

Miss Blair, a 1977 graduate of the Columbia business school, also noted that Black business professionals must accept responsibility for the continued development of youth, explaining, "As NBMBAA is maturing... American society is maturing, with the largest single percentage of it's population now between 25-45." 
At the same time, she said, there has been slower corporate recognition, and, "...the need to excell becomes more critical." The theme of the 1981 NBMBAA national conference was the Challenge to Excel. Miss Blair is a manager with Equitable Investment Management Co., a major subsidiary of Equitable Life Assurance Society of America.
She noted, "It is the desire (of Black business professionals) to have directives in a place that are not dependent on third party largess that motivates Crossroads: New Directions."
It is appropriate, she added, for those in the Association to spearhead an effort to become increasingly self-reliant." 
C. Daniel Stubbs Jr., a 1980 Pace University MBA graduate, emphasized the importance to MBAs of, "taking the lead position in dissecting investment opportunities, alternatives and transactions... and disseminating and understanding of the underlying concepts to as broad an audience as possible."
Corporate controller at the New York State Urban Development Corp., Stubbs is conference chairman for planning. He underscored the importance of the networking concept that, "allows one to draw upon the strengths and experiences of others to achieve goals." 
The NBMBAA has active chapters in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York, Philadelphia, San Franciso and Washington. Additional chapters are being organized.
One of many conference highlights will be a presentation-to Willie Davis, the pro football star-turned beverage distributor-of the H. Naylor Fitzhugh Award, the Association's highest distinction. Fitzhugh (MBA Harvard '33), of Yonkers, N.Y., is a Pepsi-Cola Co. executive in New York City. He is regarded as the "dean" of Black business professionals. The Awards Dinner is on Friday (7:00 to 10:00 P.M.)
Stephen R.Bryant (MBA '77 Harvard), president of the NBMBAA New York host chapter, and in-house business consultant at Norton-Simon, Inc., said, "The year since our last conference in Chicago has been anything but one of acceleration; if anything its been one of coping with adverse situations like high interest, small business bankruptcies, joblessness approaching 10 percent, corporate cutbacks and softening of government enforcement of equal opportunity and affirmative action programs.
"As Black professionals, we must take greater responsibility in controlling our own destinies. That, too, is consistent with our conference theme."

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