This year, the Broad Executive MBA at Michigan State University offered visible support for the LGBTQ+ community through the Spartan Pride lapel pin. Offering visible support is necessary and matters profoundly because many members of the LGBTQ+ community have had to hide for physical safety or social acceptance. The program wants every student to be their most authentic self in the classroom.

Instead of the iconic forest green Spartan logo, the lapel pin depicts the rainbow like the well-known pride flag. Since its creation for the Broad Executive MBA, the pin has become popular with other departments in the college, such as the Full-Time MBA and the Dean’s Office. The program has distributed these pins to students, alumni, and allies with the goal of providing support and to further develop inclusivity in the MSU community. Taking measures to increase visibility will continue to enrich the academic experience for all individuals who are seeking to live authentically in their gender expression and sexual orientation.

Experts designed the Global Executive MBA Program (GEMBA) at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, to meet the learning and development goals of senior executives. The 21-month journey benefits those globally minded professionals who are ready to step up into strategic leadership and drive organizations forward in the global digital environment. The program offers more global experiences than other master’s programs, intimate class sizes, and experiential learning.

Senior leaders today face the challenges of developing and communicating a vision, implementing changes, and identifying and diagnosing problems. Through strategic projects, students deliver immediate and highly valuable impact. The GEMBA Program helps students develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to be a successful strategic leader. For information, visit RSM.

EMBA students at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) are now benefitting from a new resource – the recently launched Institute for Transformative Leadership (ITL). Led by Christopher Reina, associate professor, in partnership with Barry-Wehmiller, the ITL offers training and knowledge resources on transformative, humanistic leadership.

The VCU Executive MBA always has focused on strategic management and leadership, and now is incorporating the transformative and humanistic leadership principles of the ITL into the existing leadership curriculum. Reina will focus on integrating these core leadership competencies throughout the two-year program to provide a truly transformational experience for VCU Executive MBA students.

In 2023, CEIBS noted several milestones for its Global EMBA (GEMBA), a top-ranked part-time Executive MBA Program that balances China depth and global breadth for high-achieving business leaders who want to take their career and personal development to the next level.

New Courses, New Adventures: The program launched China and the World, a new course exploring how China forges and maintains its vital diplomatic, social, and economic relationships with its global partners. The inaugural course involved 22 leading experts – CEIBS faculty professors, alumni, and guest speakers who analyzed China’s evolving global role.

Exchange Electives: China’s reopening allowed GEMBA to establish elective “seat swap” exchange courses with four top EMBA Programs, ESCP, ESADE, IESE, and Mahindra. The program looks forward to extending its network with more partners.

Return of Global Modules: In 2023, GEMBA students can steer their learning journey back onto the world stage. With modules available in 11 cities worldwide, GEMBA students will have the opportunity to experience the ever-evolving global business environment first-hand.

Expanded ESG Curriculum: Encouraging sustainable, progressive leadership is at the heart of the GEMBA philosophy. The program accelerated the design and implementation of new environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) content, including a 20-month ESG compulsory course series, ESG-based Capstone Project elements, and a Beyond Charity series of forums and interactive lectures.

Consistent Delivery: With the end of pandemic-prompted lockdowns, the campus is back to operating at full steam. April saw the biggest graduation ceremony in the program’s history. Nearly 130 students from GEMBA 2019 and 2020 cohorts could finally gather and mark the official end of their incredible shared adventure.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will launch its reimagined Executive MBA Program in fall 2023.

The new program still boasts a 17-month, cohort-based structure, with classes now in a hybrid format. Primary instruction will occur virtually on Saturday mornings, and students will come to the UNO campus for five residency weekends. Additions to the program also include two new concentration areas in Executive Leadership and Executive Business Analytics, a student-designed capstone project, and executive coaching for additional professional development.

Students who are seeking executive-level education, but not a full degree program, can choose to pursue a graduate certificate by completing course work within the EMBA curriculum. Certificate options include Executive Business, Executive Business Leadership, or Executive Business Analytics.

Kristi Lynch, senior director of Graduate, Executive, & Professional Business Programs, along with Amber Evenson, EMBA program manager, lead the UNO EMBA Program. For more information, please visit here or email unoexecutivemba@unomaha.edu.

After completing a revitalization process in 2022, Fundacao Dom Cabral´s Executive MBA launched its new curriculum with the March 2023 cohort.

The process involved studies, surveys, interviews, and focus groups with different stakeholders. Research included an analysis of feedback and recommendations from accreditation organizations (AMBA, EQUIS, AACSB); thought leadership on trends in the education industry and competencies for leaders from EMBAC, the World Economic Forum, and Poets&Quants, among others; faculty suggestions; student course feedback and overall program evaluations; market research with potential students and alumni; benchmarking with national and international business schools; and alignment with new program learning objectives and Academic Committee guidance.

The revitalization process resulted in curriculum changes that involved increasing global content; better balancing hard and soft skills; reinforcing quantitative content, such as macroeconomics and data analytics; addressing environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) directly in core courses, such as Trust and Ethics, Sustainability and ESG, Personal and Organizational Purpose, Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity, Corporate Governance, and Risk Management and transversally in courses and activities, such as the Applied Capstone Project and self-development essays; including innovation and supply chain as core courses; developing new topics for elective courses to address emerging themes; and offering more flexibility in the curriculum and enabling international exchange programs, such as Digital Transformation, Entrepreneurship and Startup Thinking, Social Intraperneurship, and Leading Across Borders.

In other news, Fundacao Dom Cabral´s Executive MBA recently launched and implemented the Purposeful Business Journey, a transversal track that aims at stimulating students to create alternatives for integrating the common good into their work.

It includes courses, activities, and applied projects that directly promote reflections and solutions for a positive impact of business on society. Course examples include Trust and Ethics (1st module), Sustainability and ESG (2nd module), Personal and Organizational Purpose (2nd module), Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (4th module), Integrating Business (5th module), Legacy of Leadership (5th module), and Humanities, Arts and Management (6th module).

As part of the journey, students practice ways to address society’s grand challenges in the business world. In a Sustainability and ESG course simulation, they pitch an innovative ESG project to a company’s board of directors. In the Personal and Organizational Purpose course, students develop a statement of their purpose as leaders and agents of change.

The journey also includes a reflection on the social and environmental impact of student solutions in their Applied Capstone Projects. Since its launch, several projects have focused on developing and improving ESG indicators at companies or starting a new social enterprise. The Purposeful Business Journey accounts for approximately 30 percent of the EMBA contact and learning hours, and participation is mandatory. Since its launch, more than 500 business leaders in Brazil have been impacted by the experience.

The University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles will launch an initiative to integrate computing research and education across disciplines, with a focus on artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, robotics, gaming, blockchain, and augmented and virtual reality.

Seeded with a $260 million gift from the Lord Foundation of California, USC Frontiers of Computing encompasses the new USC School of Advanced Computing, which will be housed in a 116,000-square-foot facility that will formally open in fall 2024. Over the next three years, the university plans to hire 30 new faculty members who are leaders in computer science and computing-based research, with additional faculty to be brought on board by 2030. The new faculty members will hold appointments in multiple schools at USC. According to Geoff Garrett, dean of the USC Marshall School of Business, the new initiative will enable the business school not only to “focus on the cutting-edge business applications of technologies like AI and blockchain, but also to understand and shape their consequences for society.”

Kenneth Oyolla, EMBA student at the London Business School, recently joined the Nation Media Group as the chief commercial officer, responsible for developing and implementing commercial growth strategies to achieve annual revenue targets. He previously served as vice president and chief commercial officer at Jumia Limited.

The Mannheim School of Business at the University of Mannheim began a six-month part-time program to help more women reach leadership positions. The Female Leadership Accelerator also supports women who are entering or re-entering the workforce. Participants attend four two-day modules for insights on leadership strategies, digital and sustainable transformation, values-based management, financial strategy, and customer orientation. They also take part in workshops, receive leadership and career coaching, and widen their network.

Founder and CEO of Maryville Consulting Group, Joe Blomker received the 2023 Dean’s Medal from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. The Dean’s Medal honors people who have contributed time, service, and dedication to the school.

At Washington University, Blomker has served on the Technology Advisory Committee and on Olin’s National Council. He also has contributed to the St. Louis community. A member of the Regional Business Council of St. Louis, he was a founding chair of St. Louis Social Venture Partners. He also served on the board of Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School. He completed his EMBA Program in 1990.

Barbara Beuscher will lead the ThedaCare Family of Foundations as chief philanthropy officer and senior vice president. The ThedaCare Family of Foundations serves as health care leader ThedaCare’s philanthropic partner in creating and transforming health and care experiences.

Beuscher completed the Executive MBA Program at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Before joining ThedaCare, she was vice president for advancement at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. “I’m honored to have been selected to lead the ThedaCare Family of Foundations, which inspires giving, and funds initiatives that improve the health of the communities we serve and provides exceptional health care experiences,” says Beurscher.

The Executive MBA Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management now offers EMBA students the opportunity to pursue new healthcare leadership and product management certificates.

Kellogg offered the option in response to students who wanted to deepen their knowledge and expertise in these fields of growing importance. Kellogg will award the first certificates in spring 2024.

To earn the Healthcare Leadership certificate, students must complete the Healthcare Deep Dive series, composed of four one-credit courses with class sessions in Evanston, Miami, and San Francisco. Students interested in pursuing a certificate in Product Management will participate in both live virtual and asynchronous modalities in a foundational product management course, Leading Product Organizations, and build their certificate from a choice of other electives, such as Digital Strategy: Individual and Organizational Transformation for a Digital Age, Strategic Brand Management, Launching & Leading Start-Ups, and TechVenture India.

This year marks a milestone for the EMBA global immersion program at Vanderbilt University as it celebrates its 10th graduating class of the Global Immersion Track, originally known as the Americas MBA for Executives program.

The Executive MBA Program offers working professionals the opportunity to earn an MBA degree while continuing to work full-time. In the program’s second year, students choose between two tracks: the Executive Edge Track where students experience the high-level work of business professionals in the classroom every other Saturday, or the Global Immersion Track where students become part of an international cohort and participate in four immersive cross-border residencies.

Each of the four Americas Alliance partner schools that participate in making up the Global Immersion Track (Americas MBA for Executives) Alliance are leading business schools in their regions. They include Vanderbilt, the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University in Canada, the Fundacao Instituto de Administracao (FIA) in Brazil, and the Instituto Technologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) in Mexico.

At the conclusion of the program, students will earn a Vanderbilt MBA as well the Global Immersion Track Alliance Certificate, jointly issued by the four schools of the alliance.

“It is a splendid opportunity for anyone pursuing the Executive MBA program to get to learn from and work with people from different cultures,” said Vibhav Veldore (EMBA ’15). “There are always takeaways from every assignment. Those opportunities are very unique, especially in an MBA program setting where you get the chance to learn, fail, and execute. It’s a valuable opportunity that not all programs offer.”