Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category

Our first Global Cohort was a resounding success! Thunderbird for Good hosted 28 women entrepreneurs from Tonga, Samoa, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Palau. The women have since returned home and continue to share incredible stories of success, growth, and the many ways they are sharing their knowledge.

Goldman Sachs launched 10,000 Women in March 2008. It is a $100 million, five-year campaign to foster greater shared economic growth by providing 10,000 underserved women around the world with a business and management education. The program is founded on research conducted by Goldman Sachs, the World Bank, and others which suggests this kind of investment can have a significant impact on GDP growth. Research also suggests that such an investment in women can have a significant multiplier effect that leads not only to increased revenues and more employees for businesses, but also healthier, better-educated families, and ultimately more prosperous communities.

These culturally appropriate programs are intended to help open doors for thousands of women whose financial and practical circumstances would normally prevent them from receiving a traditional business education. Thunderbird is a proud partner in this initiative!

We are excited to host the 2nd Global Cohort of women entrepreneurs June 9th – 24th. Women from Latin America, Central America, and the Caribbean have been submitting applications with our US Embassies in countries such as Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Argentina, Colombia, Jamaica, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Trinidad, Ecuador, Chile, and more. We are thrilled to be working with the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and other local business leaders to make this program a robust and fun learning experience.

We will officially welcome this new class of entrepreneurs to our campus on Monday, June 11th, so save the date! More details to follow. Immediately following this Welcome Reception, the women will sell their goods, handicrafts and cultural items during the 10,000 Women Marketplace. It is the perfect opportunity for these women to practice the 30-second elevator pitch Professor Steve Stralser will have just taught in class. Come eat, shop, mingle, meet, and welcome these entrepreneurs to Thunderbird!

Did you get involved as a volunteer during the 1st Global Cohort program in January? We are asking for volunteers once again to join us for an hour or two. We especially welcome all you Spanish speakers! Join us for off-campus dinners, working one-on-one with the women in the classroom, site visits to local businesses, sightseeing excursions and more. If you would like to get involved, please contact Cheri Roberts at 602-978-7742 or cheri.roberts@thunderbird.edu .

We are grateful for any time you can generously give. These programs are enriched by your efforts, and you will be in turn edified and inspired by these driven women entrepreneurs!

Every year on March 8, the United Nations and women’s groups around the world commemorate International Women’s Day. This holiday first took place in the United States in 1908, and now is celebrated across the world by women in developed and developing countries alike.

This year, Thunderbird for Good looks back on achieving several milestones for women in 2011 and 2012.

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Written by: Shagufta Parveen, Owner of SUAYYA Enterprises – Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, Project Artemis Pakistan graduate, 2011

Edited by: Wynona Heim, Program Manager, Thunderbird for Good

Formal photo of Summit attendees

I was recently invited to attend the Istanbul Forum for Economic Cooperation between Turkey, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in Turkey on November 1^st.  Heads of state from all three countries were at the meeting, as well as the President of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Vice President and Secretary from the Pakistani Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

There were three of us ladies from Pakistan who were invited to attend: myself (Shagufta Parveen), Shah Rukh (both of us 10,000 Women graduates), and Saddaf.  We were pleased to meet four fellow businesswomen from Afghanistan who are graduates of our sister 10,000 Women program there: Fatima Akbari, her daughter Shahla, Andeisha Farid, and Malalai Jawad.

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By Amy Scerra

Thunderbird for Good recently welcomed nine radio and TV station owners and managers from the Afghan provinces for ten days of business training.

The United States Army developed this special program in partnership with American Councils for International Education, Thunderbird School of Global Management and Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.

Our goal was to train and support these men on their new journey of building and growing free-speech practicing media stations. These men feel a sense of duty to promote fair, balanced and responsible journalism.

When the group arrived, I was immediately greeted with ten outstretched hands waiting to shake mine, friendly faces and excited greetings in both Pashto and English. Gratitude for the opportunity to learn and study not only in America, but at Thunderbird. Seems our reputation precedes us in Afghanistan!

As we discussed the schedule for the day, the men seemed a bit apprehensive, but positive about September 11th. I later learned that they were uncertain of their safety, and how Americans would treat them on such a sensitive day. Their families and colleagues at home were nervous for them, and this didn’t add to their comfort. When I explained we would be at a mosque for the day, their tension seemed to ease. They all expressed gratitude that we were able to commemorate and honor September 11th with this special service.

Joining us at the mosque just before afternoon prayers began were Thunderbird faculty Dr. Karen Walch and Dr. Eileen Borris, alumni Shamshad Khan and Erron Boes, and Thunderbird for Good staff member, Wynona Heim. We were immediately welcomed as special guests, the women crossing over to the men’s side for photos, introductions and greetings.

The beautiful afternoon prayers were spoken, and we again became one congregation. Sitting on the floor, legs crossed, circles of friendship forming as we listened to Imam Didmar speak to us about what it means to be an American Muslim post September 11th. We heard stories of intolerance, misplaced fear, and discrimination. We also heard solutions to eliminate the walls the “us” vs. “them” mentality creates. Part of the answer is education. The more truthful knowlege people have, the less they’ll assume, stereotype, discriminate or hate. One participant expressed that this was the first time he felt like Americans understood that 9/11 was a tragedy to them too. It turned their lives upside down as well.

United we stood, side by side, discussing education and hope. Forgiveness and progress. These men are the agents of change in Afghanistan. They are committed to using their media outlets as forces for good, stopping hurtful propaganda, no matter the security issues they face because of it. Their week at Thunderbird was starting out on the right foot, as we agreed that our goals were the same. Education, sustainability, change and understanding.

And now, the universal language of food was spoken! The gracious and generous Afghan members of the mosque cooked a gigantic spread of authentic dishes for us all. We ate until we couldn’t eat any more! Amazing food, inspiring day, and just the beginning of an intensive week of business training!

Where do library books go when they are no longer needed? If that book was in the IBIC, Thunderbird’s International Business Information Centre, there is a pretty good chance that it it will get a new lease on life somewhere else in the world. T-bird sends our discarded books to an operation called Better World Books where they are sold online to fund distribution of books to schools, community centers and universities in need. Some books that cannot be sold are donated directly to Books for Africa and subsequently go to Africa.  The IBIC has gotten rid of thousands of books in the last few years as we transition to a more paperless operation with more electronic resources.

So where do all of these books from Glendale end up? In T-bird style, even our library is truly global. The following gallery was emailed to us from our friends at Better World Books who used funding from the sale of our books to send a 40-foot-long shipping container full of books to Monrovia, Liberia. These educational resources were then distributed across Liberia by Visions In Action, a development organization.

This partnership embraces many of Thunderbird’s core values: doing good (books go to people in need), sustainability (not dumping used books in a land fill) and entrepreneurship (we earn a small profit).

Want to learn more about the International Business Information Centre? Visit them on Facebook.

By Ryan Schuchard ‘07

I spent half of my first day at COP15 in line, mostly outside, in the cold. But I was one of the lucky ones to eventually emerge inside the Bella convention center. Others waited for six hours or more only to be turned away at the door (if they even made it that far). I don’t know whether I’ll make it back in on Friday, when I’m scheduled to present at the China Climate Registry panel. Word has it that the 15,000-person occupancy for the 35,000-plus who are registered will shrink by the day until virtually no one but government delegates is allowed in at the end of the week. We’re all bewildered. After all, we’re all on the invite list. Read more on the official BSR Blog.

Thunderbird graduate Ryan Schuchard, Manager of Research & Innovation at BSR, is in Copenhagen this week at the COP15 climate treaty negotiations.

By Ryan Schuchard ‘07

I chose Thunderbird for my MBA largely because I knew that it was ahead of the game on two megatrends: globalization and sustainability.
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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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Covered parking spaces come with something extra at the North American headquarters of British Telecommunications in sunny Southern California. Solar panels mounted on parking lot shade structures deliver enough renewable energy to power more than 150 average-sized California homes for one year. That translates to about 15 percent of British Telecommunications’ electricity requirements at the site. Carrie Norton, a 2003 Thunderbird graduate, spearheaded the project as a senior manager at Suntech Energy Solutions.
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Melanie Marks ’97 describes herself as a marketer for sharks. The avid diver grew up in San Diego and developed a love for the ocean at an early age. “Even if you’re not at the beach,” she says, “you’re always aware of its presence.” Marks, 37, has always felt protective of sharks because the creatures are often misunderstood.
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