2000 Achievement Award Winner:
Bert King Award for Service to the Community
Republished with permission from the HBS African-American Alumni Association
"I've never been afraid to go out and try something I think I can do," says Lillian Lincoln. "It just never occurs to me that it won't work out" But growing up in Virginia, the adventurous daughter of a farmer and a teacher never imagined that she would become the first African American woman to receive an MBA from Harvard Business School, or the owner of a company with 1,200 employees and annual revenues of $20 million. Yet Lillian Lincoln achieved all those things and more, through hard work, exceptional determination, and her unflagging optimism.
Lincoln admits she was "a very na¯ve young lady" when she graduated from high school. "I thought the big city was the place to be and that everyone there made a lot of money." She soon learned that gainful employment was hard to come by without a degree and, after working at various jobs, Lincoln applied for scholarships and loans to attend Howard University. Her life and fortunes changed significantly when she became a research assistant for her business professor, Naylor Fitzhugh. Fitzhugh had been one of the first African Americans to graduate from Harvard Business School, earning his degree in 1933. He made history in many phases of his career, and his contributions to the business curriculum over three decades at Howard are legendary. Fitzhugh particularly enjoyed his role in guiding many promising young people into the business world including Lincoln, who stayed in touch with her mentor over the years. "He encouraged me to apply to HBS," she recalls, "but I thought it was beyond my means." Fitzhugh persisted, however, and Lincoln laughs as she recalls, "I finally completed the application so he'd leave me alone!"
She arrived on campus in the fall of 1967, one of six African Americans in her class. "We were really disheartened to discover that we were so few in number," she remembers, recounting the story of how she and four classmates went on to found AASU in February of 1968. After approaching Dean George Baker with their concerns, the students committed themselves to addressing a range of issues and enhancing the experience of future generations at the School. Particularly in the area of recruiting outreach and increased enrollments, the Founding Five as they are known, were extraordinarily successful. Due in large measure to their efforts, 22 African American students graduated in the Class of 1970 (including award namesake Bert King) and an unprecedented 67 graduated in 1971. Lincoln is proud of their achievements, but advises today's MBA students not to take previous gains for granted. "They must realize that what they do and don't do while at HBS will have an impact on those who follow."
When she graduated in 1969, Lincoln took a job at a small consulting firm in Washington, DC, and later became executive vice president of a building maintenance services contractor with responsibility for administrative and financial functions. Then in 1976 Lincoln says, "A friend was going to start a similar type of company but he changed his mind, gave me his business plan, and said, 'Why don't you do it?'" With four thousand dollars and a promise of ninety days credit from a supplier, she launched Centennial One, which she still owns today. At that time, Lincoln and her husband had two small children, so she operated out of her home for the first two years, working mostly at night. To grow the business, she applied to a Small Business Administration program created to assist minority-owned enterprises. With characteristic persistence, Lincoln overcame frustrating obstacles to securing government agency contracts, and the company took off. Then in 1985, she was abruptly "graduated" from the set-aside program and, after nine profitable years, her business began to lose money. Undaunted, Lincoln just worked harder. "Fortunately I had reinvested in the company and also hired a marketing person so I was eventually able to replace the lost business with commercial contracts." She currently has operations in Virginia, Maryland, New York, and Massachusetts, and also derives revenue from a cleaning supply company she acquired as a vertical integration.
Lincoln remains committed to community involvement, and her company sponsors an organization that provides counseling and support to homeless men and women. She is also an active director of the HBS African-American Alumni Association, as well as a regent of the University of Maryland. But she has not forgotten her mentor, Naylor Fitzhugh. To give back, Lincoln currently serves on a committee raising funds to honor Fitzhugh through the creation of an HBS professorship in his name, and offers advice to young people who aspire to business careers. "I'm a very strong advocate of entrepreneurship," she says, "because control over your financial destiny is directly related to how committed you are, and how hard you want to work. But you must prepare yourself for uncertainty and to counter the arguments of those who will try to tell you that you can't do it." Without a doubt, emulating Lillian Lincoln's example would be a great way to start.