Archive for November, 2009

By Wynona Heim, Thunderbird for Good Program Manager, Afghanistan

It is always a good day when we receive good news from Afghanistan, but this news seems to fit perfectly with the season. As we here in the U.S. prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, Rangina Hamidi, a 2005 Project Artemis fellow and owner of Kandahar Treasure, as well as the 250 Afghan women who work in her cooperative, truly have something to be thankful for.

On Nov. 14, Kandahar Treasure opened its first retail shop on the “Boardwalk” at the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, where NATO soldiers and international civilian support team members at the sprawling base will be able to shop. The shop features silk scarves and shawls, hand-embroidered pillows, linen furniture covers and more, all hand made by Afghan women working out of their homes. After nearly selling out on opening day, Rangina brought more stock to fill the shop on day two – and this time completely sold out!
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By Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy ‘91

Twenty years ago today I was in my first semester at Thunderbird and I watched from afar as the physical and emotional walls that divided East and West began to come down. Having lived in Germany previously I watched with a special interest and in joyous amazement with my Thunderbird colleagues, including those from Germany who I had befriended early in the school year. I remember Hermann (the German) Schulte, in particular, as he jumped and yelled and lamented missing the biggest party he could imagine for his country (ies). There was a feeling throughout the school, not just amongst the Germans or Europeans, but amongst all students, faculty and staff that something has shifted in our world, something that changed what it is we were to do, and it made our mission at Thunderbird all that more poignant and important. Hermann may have wanted to be back in Germany and, at the time, I would have gladly joined him if given the chance. But being at Thunderbird also seemed like being in the right place. A place of the world, a place where we were all citizens of Berlin, citizens of Germany.
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By Laura Clise
Director, Sustainable Development and Continuous Improvement

In an increasingly resource-constrained world and at a time when society at large is grappling with the critical challenges of economic recovery, energy security, and climate change, business leaders are considering the bold actions required to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy. In the globally integrated world in which we live, what happens in one economy does not stay in one economy. Therefore, business, government, and civil society need to establish models of collaboration that address these common issues, which are not limited by national boundaries.
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