Regional Centers Fueled By Alumni

20+ by 2025: Regional Centers of Excellence Bring Thunderbird to the World

The construction of our new global headquarters at the heart of the downtown Phoenix business district is probably the most visible of our current strategic initiatives. As you’ll read on page 8, the building is a profound reflection of how we are continuing our 74-year tradition of bringing the world to Thunderbird.

But bringing the world to Thunderbird, by itself, is no longer sufficient. We also have to bring Thunderbird to the world. And so the complement to our new global headquarters is our initiative to have at least 20 regional Centers of Excellence around the world by the year 2025.

“Thunderbird’s global headquarters and global network of regional centers are two sides of the same coin,” explained Sanjeev Khagram, Thunderbird Director General and Dean. “We need both.”

“This is not just a vision for the future. It’s a strategy we’re executing with precision. In 2019 alone we expanded from three hubs to nine: Moscow, Geneva, Dubai, Tokyo, Seoul, Nairobi, Jakarta, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. In 2020, we plan to open hubs in Shanghai, Mexico City, São Paulo, Mumbai, and Istanbul. We are blitz scaling,” said Dean Khagram.

BRINGING THUNDERBIRD AND ASU TO THE WORLD

“The global network of regional Centers of Excellence is the way we take Thunderbird to the world,” Khagram said. “The hubs facilitate engagement by the incredible T-birds in these regions to ramp up and diversify educational offerings and make the Thunderbird experience more accessible to more people than ever before. We taught our students to create, manage, and lead global enterprises. Now we are doing it ourselves.”

The reginal center concept isn’t exactly new to Thunderbird; we’ve had satellite offices in Moscow, Geneva, and Dubai. “What’s changed is how we

Mr. Hilmi Panigoro ’85 (left) Ms. Lilis Setyayanti Sidarta ’88 (middle) Mr. Jimmy Masrin ’87 (right)

think about the suite of services that we can bring into these local markets,” explained Dean Khagram. “We’re drawing on a portfolio of services that go beyond Thunderbird – to also include assets from across ASU that will enable us to deliver solutions tailored to the culture and maturity of the local market.” Broadly, each regional hub will enable four types of engagement: 1) enabling Thunderbird alumni in the region to get involved; 2) recruiting and placing students from the region, including into online and/or hybrid degrees; 3) developing and disseminating localized thought leadership and applied research; 4) commercial activities such as language and professional skills training and executive education.

AGILITY IN EDUCATION

Thunderbird is at the forefront of the broader ASU global engagement strategy. “Thunderbird has always been comfortable establishing a regional pres

ence with the agility required for global engagement. These aren’t campuses, so local staff members have more flexibility to bring cultural awareness and language capabilities to the market,” said Bronwyn Beabeau, Thunderbird’s Chief Operating Officer. “That’s not something ASU would have done alone before Thunderbird joined the ASU Enterprise.”

The Thunderbird and ASU assets that regional centers of excellence can draw on include: • The global launch program for professional English language competency • Global entrepreneurship and business skills development and training for working professionals • Stackable learning solutions including digital courses, certificates, and degree programs • Executive education for preparing future-ready global leaders and managers

Each Thunderbird Center of Excellence can draw more or less on these assets, depending on the market’s needs. That agility – to be responsive to local market needs – is key. “We are practicing what we preach. Leaders for the Fourth Industrial Revolution need to be agile, including us,” Khagram explained.

Thunderbird’s new satellite office strategy is about more than simply having campuses around the world. Rather than setting up campuses or classrooms or embedding with local universities, the School will leverage the latest digital technology to connect the new regional centers of excellence to each other through digital audio and video links with the new global headquarters under construction on ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus (read more about the new building on page 8).

“We’re very intentionally not thinking about physical campuses because of the overhead and lack of flexibility inherent in that,” said Beabeau. “The intention is to provide us the flexibility to bring solutions into markets where we see opportunities for Thunderbird and ASU. It’s an agile model that can be shaped in different ways as markets’ needs change.”

FUELED BY ALUMNI

The idea for the first regional center came from Hiroshi Hamada, who graduated in 1991 with a Master’s in Global Management. Hamada was active with the Thunderbird alumni network in Japan but wanted a stronger presence there – for T-birds past, present, and future.

So at a dinner for alumni, Hamada announced that he was putting up a challenge grant of $100,000 – seed money for a Thunderbird Center of Excellence in Tokyo. He asked his fellow T-birds to follow his lead. Forty-two did,

doubling Hamada’s initial gift. Seeing the momentum for a renewed Thunderbird presence in Japan, Hamada donated an additional $1 million to accelerate the development of the hub and sustain it for five years as it builds its own sustainable revenue system.

“Last year, we opened the hub office in Tokyo, which was the first alumni-driven hub, and now it serves as a model for the new hubs around the world, including Seoul, Jakarta, and many more to come. The reason why I started this from scratch is that I truly wanted to contribute to the School. Without Thunderbird, my life would have been very boring. With Thunderbird, I am traveling around the world. Even as I age, I have the energy because of Thunderbird. The excitement I feel, the expectation I have for the future of Thunderbird in Japan and around the world is so powerful. I am especially thrilled as my son will be joining the Bachelor of Global Management at Thunderbird in Fall 2020.”

- Hiroshi Hamada ’91

It wasn’t long before alumni in other regions began making plans to develop their own hubs. That was the case for Dr. Lee, who led the efforts to develop a hub in Seoul, South Korea.

“With more than 800 Thunderbird alumni in Korea, I would like to do my best in assisting and promoting Thun derbird here. I not only believe in Thunderbird’s educational value, but also in Dean Kha gram’s leadership in guiding Thunderbird’s brand into a globally recognized and highly

sought after school, especially in my home country.”

- Dr. Se Ung Lee ’70

“Development of the new regional centers has really been driven by philanthropy from alumni,” explained Patrick McDermott, Thunderbird’s Chief Engagement Officer. “They see that they can make an impact on the School and their local communities that they live in and work in and love.”

In addition to providing seed philanthropic gifts, alumni have also been recruiting students, helping find internship and employment opportunities for T-birds, and coordinating thought leadership activities. The hubs enable a more concerted effort. “The regional hubs are about student recruitment, brand enhancement, marketing, philanthropy, and executive education,” explained Khagram. “The fuel for all of these is the alumni.”

Tokyo hub opening

In Jakarta, T-bird Jimmy Masrin ’87 led the development of a Thunderbird hub to strengthen the ability of the alumni there to further the School’s commitment to educating new global leaders who can solve the problems facing humanity by sustainably leveraging expertise across sectors and disciplines.

Dr. Se Ung Lee ’70

“Thunderbird has been a big part of my life since my grad uation in 1987. I built lifelong friendships with classmates and got the building blocks for a future leading my family business. It’s my passion for the future leaders of Indonesia that lead me to support the Jakarta center. Thunderbird changed my life and I am hopeful that the Regional Center of Excellence in Jakarta will allow future Indonesian leaders the same opportunity as I had.”

- Jimmy Masrin ’87 FOR THE NEXT 75 YEARS, AND BEYOND

With 20-plus regional Centers of Excellence around the world and a new global headquarters in Phoenix, Thunderbird will be well-poised to not only bring the world to the place that trains global leaders and managers who advance inclusive and sustainable globalism – but also to bring that education and training to the world. For the next 75 years, and beyond.