In April, the Bard MBA in Sustainability was pleased to host Mrs. Loida Nicolas Lewis for a live fireside chat covering her experiences as a pioneering feminist, immigration rights activist and Filipino-American business-woman. With her late husband, Reginald Lewis, the couple built a billion dollar business, TLC Beatrice International, which she later ran as CEO.
Bard MBA student Wendy Lau spoke with Mrs. Lewis after the event. When asked for advice, “She told me to attend meetings or events 15 minutes early and be the last one to leave”, Lau reported. “The main takeaways were to not be afraid to advocate for myself, make meaningful connections, and to also be kind to people, which goes a long way.”
Mrs. Lewis also talked about her recent book Why Should Guys Have All the Fun? An Asian American Story of Love, Marriage, Motherhood, and Running a Billion Dollar Empire. The book is a fascinating journey towards leadership, beginning with a young girl growing up in the post WWII Philippines, very much influenced by her entrepreneur father, and also her Catholic faith.
Flowing from these twin inspirations, much of the Bard conversation was focused on practice of ethical business leadership. Bard MBA Director Eban Goodstein remarked that one thing that hit home for him was Mrs. Lewis’ statement that “A leader’s spirit infuses their organization”.
While at the MBA, Mrs. Lewis spoke with MBA students about several related Bard initiatives, including Brothers@, which supports young men of color to achieve academic success, and the Bard Prison Initiative, offering Bard degrees to incarcerated people in New York.
The event concluded with a book signing by Mrs. Lewis.
