Harvard Business School (HBS) and the Executive Leadership Council (ELC) have announced that they’ve forged a partnership to build a pipeline of advanced opportunities for ELC scholarship recipients and the most senior Black executives in corporate America.

According to a press release, the ELC is aligning its mission to “open channels of opportunity for Black executives to positively impact business and communities” with the same goals outlined in Harvard Business School’s recently announced Action Plan for Racial Equity.

“HBS must do more to create opportunities for Black talent to succeed and take up leadership roles,” said HBS Dean Nitin Nohria in a statement. “The Executive Leadership Council has demonstrated the ability to create these opportunities and harness the power of Black talent. Together, we can create a tremendous and unique opportunity for ELC scholarship recipients, ELC members, and the HBS community.”

The new collaboration will reportedly offer enhanced MBA programming opportunities, focus on providing ELC members access to HBS education opportunities, and leverage the ELC to supply more diverse perspectives in HBS educational programs.

“The ELC looks forward to launching this unique collaboration with HBS. It is an advantage to be able to provide another development opportunity for our ELC Scholars,” said ELC CEO/Interim President Crystal E. Ashby in a statement. “Adding this component will enrich their overall experience, providing financial support, networking and education as benefits for the Scholars. We are energized to offer executive education opportunities for our members, and to do so with one of the most highly-regarded academic institutions around the world.”

Additionally, the collaboration will focus on three key areas of development:

- - Building the pipeline of Black business leaders for the future
  - Cultivating high-potential executive leaders
  - Infusing diversity into the MBA curriculum

A key factor of HBS’ Racial Equity plan is the development of additional cases for Black protagonists, a press release shares.

By working together, HBS and ELC will identify potential topics and candidates to feature in cases from the more than 800 current and former Black CEOs, senior executives and board directors at Fortune 1000 and Global 500 companies, and entrepreneurs at top-level firms taking advantage of ELC’s membership.

“ELC’s commitment to professional growth of blacks in the corporate sector and to leadership in the Black community in general is uplifting and powerful,” said Ron Chandler, HBS Chief Information Officer and Co-Chair of the School’s Anti-Racism Taskforce, in a statement. “A strategic partnership between the Executive Leadership Council and Harvard Business School would not only cultivate immediate greatness but can have phenomenal second- and third-order impacts for years and decades to come.”

For more information about this collaboration, click here.

Harvard Business School

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