Spring 11 MASTER.indd - Thunderbird Magazine

news & notes
in focus
Thunderbird Worldwide
New venture seeks innovation for scale and impact
W
orking professionals
in
Kazakhstan
and other
emerging markets will soon
have access to world-class
certificate programs that
bring the Thunderbird
brand to them in their native
languages.
The new commercial
venture, called Thunderbird
Worldwide, will
build on the school’s
12-year record of success
at Thunderbird Russia,
a Moscow-based operation
known locally as the
Center for Business Skills
Development. A second
component of the model,
called Thunderbird Online,
will deliver distance learning
certificate programs to
working professionals in
even more locations.
The initiatives, approved
by the Board of Trustees
in June 2010, support at
least two strategic priorities
outlined in Thunderbird’s
Vision 2020. One priority
calls for increased focus on
innovation for scale and
impact. Another calls for
increased focus on emerging
markets.
“This whole thing is
about being different and
making a difference,” said
Dennis Hopple, Thunderbird’s
vice president
of strategic initiatives and
former director of Thunderbird
Russia.
Hopple returned from
Moscow to help Thunderbird
Corporate Learning
interim director and former
trustee John Berndt lay the
foundation for Thunderbird
Worldwide. Joe Patterson
’08 completes the Thunderbird
Worldwide senior leadership
team as assistant vice
president of Thunderbird
Online. Patterson and his
team have completed the
development of seven new
online certificate courses
with five additional courses,
still in development. Thunderbird
Worldwide’s new
online unit is also seeking
innovative ways to increase
Thunderbird’s global
impact by creating a Global
Partner Network made up
of international partners
and distributors.
Thunderbird Kazakhstan
is being established using
existing clients and Russian
language content developed
at the Center for Business
Skills Development.
Hopple said at least one
additional center will open
each year during the fiveyear
planning period that
ends in 2015.
He said Thunderbird
Worldwide will finalize
the selection of additional
markets in the year preceding
actual entry. Peru,
An instructor works with clients at Thunderbird Russia in Moscow.
The operation, known locally as the Center for Business Skills
Development, provides a growth model for Thunderbird Worldwide.
Poland, Vietnam and the
Middle East are high on
the priority list.
Going forward, the initiative
will expand to include
Thunderbird’s existing
operations in Geneva, Switzerland,
and Beijing, China.
“While major emerging
markets like China, India
and Brazil are also candidates
for Thunderbird
Worldwide operations, our
current plans favor smaller,
emerging markets,” Hopple
said.
The school also will
seek funding partners for
its overseas centers to accelerate
growth. This is a
primary reason Thunderbird
Worldwide adopted a
for-profit model. Hopple
said Thunderbird will
remain a shareholder in
Thunderbird Worldwide
no matter how quickly the
operation grows.
“Our main reason for
pursuing this business
model is to establish a
growth business that will
provide future cash flows to
support Thunderbird’s core
nonprofit programs and
activities,” he said.
thunderbird magazine 17
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