Going Farther Together

How Thunderbird’s Partnerships Help Us Advance Our Mission and Make a Direct Impact on the World

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

- African Proverb

The global Thunderbird community includes our wonderful students, our devoted alumni, our talented and dedicated faculty and staff – and our essential partners. These partnerships are integral in achieving our mission of educating global leaders and managers who will maximize the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“Our partnerships help us to make a direct impact in the world,” said Thunderbird Director General and Dean Sanjeev Khagram. “On the student side, our partners help us recruit great students and provide existing students with internships and applied learning opportunities. Our partnerships are vital to our executive education and non-degree programs as well. And they advance our thought leadership in the world, enabling Thunderbird to be more global, to educate more robustly and to provide our students, faculty and alumni with valuable resources.”

International Coaching Federation – “They are our resource for connecting our students with professional coaches to help them accelerate or start their careers,” said Khagram. Foundation for Climate Restoration – Through our partnership with the Foundation for Climate Restoration, we have launched a task force that will become a global initiative on carbon removal.

Phoenix Global Rising

Phoenix Global Rising (PGR) is a transformative multistakeholder initiative committed to making the city of Phoenix a cosmopolitan innovation and inclusion vanguard for the 21st century. It will support the inspirational leadership of Mayor Kate Gallego and focus on five major collaborative action projects with leading global organizations based across the private, public and nonprofit sectors: Strengthening the Global Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Fostering International Trade and Investment, Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Promoting the Full Inclusion of Immigrants and Refugees, and Advancing Urban Innovation and a Smart Community with Sister Cities Worldwide.

Various public, private and nonprofit groups will be involved, including: Global Chamber Phoenix, Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations, and Phoenix Sister Cities. A community suite will be located on the first floor of Thunderbird Global Headquarters providing meeting space for Phoenix area groups that are active globally.

“What people, our city, our state, our country, our world, and our planet needs these days is good news. Thank you, Phoenix Global Rising, for being that good news!

- Mayor Kate Gallego

“Amongst all our collaborators, Thunderbird is specially and uniquely focused on global business, and so it's a perfect match for our exporting, importing, and investing members. Let’s keep collaborating and growing business and trade!

- Dean Sanjeev Khagram

“As part of our partnership with Phoenix Global Rising, all of the global organizations within Phoenix will be co-located in our new building. It’s going to be the heartbeat of Global Phoenix.

- Doug Bruhnke, founder/CEO at Global Chamber

UN Global Compact USA

We are the institutional partner for Global Compact Network USA, the US network of the United Nations Global Compact. We were selected for this role through a competitive process against other schools in late 2018. In this role, Thunderbird supports Global Compact Network USA through running programming for them, assisting in events, communications/branding, supporting some Board activities, leveraging the Thunderbird network to bring connections and knowledge to Network USA. We were selected due to Thunderbird’s knowledge, resources, and strong commitment to what the UN Global Compact stands for. As well, the additional strength of our relationship with ASU was a huge plus. The board of Network USA was particularly moved by Sanjeev’s personal origin story and his commitment and past involvement with the UN.

“Global Compact Network USA is very pleased to be partnered with Thunderbird to further the UN’s corporate sustainability efforts. This successful relationship has allowed the network to leverage Thunderbird’s leading faculty, administration, and program expertise in support of the sustainability ambitions of US companies.

- Adam Roy Gordon, Engagement Director, UN Global Compact Network USA

FREEPORT-MCMORAN

Thunderbird was approached by FreeportMcMoRan in 2010 to help them develop a signature women’s entrepreneurship program as part of their social impact initiatives. Thunderbird’s strong reputation in designing and implementing women’s entrepreneurship programs through the Thunderbird for Good office was a key reason why the School was initially approached. We have worked closely with Freeport for a decade in creating the “DreamBuilder” and “DreamCatcher” programs, reaching over 80,000 women across 110 countries. We’ve helped showcase their work in the State Department, with the Small Business Administration, the Equal Futures partnership, the UNGC and the Clinton Global Initiative. Freeport began the relationship due to Thunderbird's reputation and the partnership continues because of the impact we’ve been able to make through the programs we’ve developed for them.

“The longstanding partnership with Freeport-McMoRan is critical to Thunderbird for Good and research and thought leadership. The partnership leads to new ideas, new insights, and lessons that our faculty can assemble and share.

- Dean Sanjeev Khagram

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

Thunderbird partners with the World Economic Forum (WEF) and other world-class organizations that are firmly committed to collaborating on innovative solutions to key planetary and global challenges such as climate change and extreme poverty. Shortly after taking the reins of the institution, Thunderbird CEO, Dean and Director General Sanjeev Khagram leveraged his long-standing relationships with WEF in several arenas, including participation in WEF programs, research, and thought leadership. From a white paper on global technology governance to a prestigious fellowship in biotechnology and precision medicine with WEF’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Thunderbird’s partnership with the Forum has produced tangible results that provide benefits to members of the School’s global community as well as high-value visibility around the world. Our collaborations with WEF advance a shared vision of a future defined by inclusive and sustainable prosperity worldwide, and we are just getting started.