Archive for January, 2009

By Joel Montgomery, Thunderbird graduate

Starting a business is hard enough, but starting a business that has a social focus is even harder. For Micro Drip, we are still very much working to refine our business model so that we can sell successfully to the “base of the pyramid” (BOP). Here in Pakistan, that means people who live on less than $4 per day. For Micro Drip, one of the most difficult challenges is that we can have the greatest low-cost, high-quality drip irrigation system in the world. But success for a farmer ultimately depends on much more than our system: microfinancing, stable water source, good seed, fertilizer, storage, know-how, distribution to markets, etc.
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Entrepreneur Peter Eliassen reflects on his experiences visiting eyeglass manufacturers in the high-growth city of Wenzhou, China, including what goes on behind the scenes on the factory floor … Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Wenzhou, China, with the goal of finding an eyeglass supplier that can help my company, VisionSpring, deliver on our strong growth plan over the next few years. Wenzhou is in the southern Zhejiang province, about an hour’s plane flight south of Shanghai on the east coast of China.
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By Kellie Kreiser

Have you been reading the blog entries the past few days? Are you as amazed as I am about the things people do with their lives to change the world? Lately it feels more and more like people are using the downturn in the economy to make dramatic changes in their lives … to seek out ways to find a career that makes a meaningful impact. If there is an upside to being downsized, maybe it is having a door opened to an option you never considered before.

This happened to me a few years ago. A company consolidation nudged me into unemployment and enlightenment. I decided to go to Thunderbird to get my MBA and then wound up working for the school, ultimately creating “Thunderbird for Good.” I used to develop commercial floor finish for Europe and now I “do good.” I mourned the loss of my marketing manager role back then, but I never would have made the change without the kick in the seat of the pants.
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Hey there, Iʼm Laura Clise, a 2008 Thunderbird grad. At AREVA, a French energy multinational dedicated to providing CO2-free power generation and transmission and distribution, I am responsible for sustainable development and continuous improvement for North America. Broadly speaking, I define and execute our sustainable development strategy for the region, which for the moment means that I am working with our business units and subsidiaries across the U.S. and Canada to implement our framework for integrating sustainable development into our business operations.
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Greetings global citizens. My name is Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy, a 1991 Thunderbird graduate. First let me say it is a real honor and pleasure to be a part of this new adventure in blogging. I do a little blogging of my own for personal and professional reasons elsewhere, and I stay active personally and professionally with Facebook. So this seemed like a natural progression in my local, regional and global connections. Now a little about me and my organization for this first time around: I am the vice president and chief operating officer for Oweesta, a U.S. Native community development intermediary based in Rapid City, S.D., serving indigenous people throughout the United States.
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Hey there! My name is Debarshi Das, and I’m a May 2008 graduate from Thunderbird. Along with my peers who are also contributing to this blog, I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself. In August 2008, I began work for Clipper Windpower, a U.S.-based wind energy company focused on the design, manufacturing and global sales of our Liberty 2.5MW wind turbines. The company has grown to more than 800 employees worldwide and is based in Carpinteria, Calif., with European headquarters in London.
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I am Joel Montgomery, a 2008 Thunderbird graduate working as an Acumen Fund Fellow in Pakistan. Anyone who has worked at the “base of the pyramid” can tell you that human resources is a major challenge. Recruiting and retaining good talent can be a nightmare and has major implications for how fast (or slow) a social business can scale. I am faced with these issues every day in my work with Micro Drip, an irrigation solutions company that focuses on poor farmers in Pakistan. 
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Hello, my name is Peter Eliassen. After graduating from Thunderbird in December 2006, I joined Unilever as an associate finance manager in 2007. On the customer marketing team for US Foods (Skippy, Hellmann’s, Wishbone, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, etc), I worked on strategic pricing and promotion analysis. Although I was offered a role in Mexico with Unilever in summer 2008, I wanted to get back to economic development through social enterprise, microfinance or through a foundation.
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By Kellie Kreiser

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about heroes. With so much uncertainty, violence, and desperate need in the world, there is a comfort in knowing that there are people in the world who do the right thing. For at least a moment in time, they did something truly good that helped the world, and that made people aspire to be like them, to be better. Capt. “Sully” Sullenberger … the pilot who miraculously landed the plane on the Hudson River. Kurt Warner … the 37-year-old-quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals who was bagging groceries 12 years ago and now will lead his team to the Super Bowl. And of course, Barack Obama … the man that so many will look to tomorrow to lead America, and maybe the world, through our current mess.
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