A Passion for Innovation for Good

Started as a student initiative in 2003, the Thunderbird Sustainable Innovation Summit and Challenge is a unique event which inspires, educates, and promotes sustainable and creative thinking in the global business arena. The Summit comprises of a global innovation competition for teams of Master's level students from around the world to tackle real-world business challenges. The Challenge begins October 6, 2008 with an Online Round, and the Top Ten Teams will be invited to the Final Round held at the Thunderbird campus in Glendale, Arizona, on Nov. 13-15, 2008.

The Summit also invites a host of thought leaders and experts to share their expertise with students from around the world.

The Summit’s Mission:

To foster learning environments that enable creation of sustainable (economic, social, and environmental) value through innovative solutions to real-world business challenges.

The Summit Ring, our mark, symbolizes the continuous and transforming nature of economic, social and environmental value created by sustainable innovations in business.

The making of...

The story of the Thunderbird Sustainable Innovation Summit and Challenge is very unique. Especially since it has undergone incredible evolution and innovation itself in its incredibly short life – from birth to clone to fusion and re-birth. Amazingly, the passion of a few Thunderbird students (now alumni) has remained ignited through the years, with each year a new group of students carrying the torch.

Since the first competition in November 2003, over a thousand MBA students have been given the opportunity, each year, to solve real world business challenges faced by our sponsors, with their most innovative solutions. In early 2005, Thunderbird hosted its first corporate citizenship competition, a.k.a the clone, allowing MBA students and global corporations to focus on creatively addressing corporate responsibility and ethics in business.

Over the years, Thunderbird has remained true to its passion and continues to offer the world a truly global and unique business competition. Understanding the natural inseparability of business thinking and sustainability thinking, we fused the two previous Challenges and the first ever Thunderbird Sustainable Innovation Summit and Challenge was born late 2006.

And the passion lives on! Today, we aim to span our global reach and extend our invitation to all Master’s level students around the world, all year round. We hope to further transform the Summit from an annual weekend long conference into an all-year-round leading avenue of sustainable innovation education for all.

Thunderbird’s Mission:

We educate business leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide.

Thunderbird's Core Beliefs:

• Global Citizenship—Global management is a true profession, dedicated to the creation of sustainable economic and social value worldwide
  
  
• Global Entrepreneurship—Successful global managers must be resourceful, innovative and capable of pursuing new opportunities in uncertain environments
  
  
• Global Thought Leadership—Management knowledge is advanced most effectively through academically rigorous and practically relevant research
  
  
• Global Learning Network—Networking among managers and experts on a global scale and exposure to different cultures and business environments is essential for life-long learning and effective professional practice
  
  
• Global Mindset—Effective global managers must be capable of leading global organizations, applying business knowledge in different social, economic, and political environments, and working with individuals from diverse cultures