At the 19thGraduation Ceremony of Toulouse Business School’s Aerospace MBA (AEMBA), I shared my thoughts on the Future, and what I think it can bring to the new, and existing, Alumni of the AEMBA, and vice versa.
Three things come to mind that will either contribute to, or even shape that Future, depending on what the Alumni decide to do with them.
First, close to home, is the news that the Aerospace MBA Alumni Association will be joining the larger TBS Alumni Association later this year. This means that we’ll become part of a community of over 30 000 alumni, counting among them industry leaders in a number of different sectors. The Association also provides an infrastructure for communications and networking that’s top notch. It is an opportunity for all of us “Aerospacers” to widen our network even further to build our professional future.
So what happens to the Aerospace MBA Alumni Association? We will still keep our identity as a separate chapter within the TBS Alumni Association. We will have a dedicated network and activities, in addition to the wider TBS Alumni agenda. I’d like to extend a warm thank you to the TBS Alumni Association for welcoming us, over 800 Aerospace MBA Alumni, into its community, and look forward to making the most of this closer collaboration, for the benefit of all Alumni across the TBS Alumni Association.
Secondly, I’d like to look toward the future in relation to how we can contribute as AEMBA Alumni. For one to two years, we receive knowledge and support, and grow as individuals, while pursuing our MBA. We do this thanks to the programme, faculty, invaluable lecturers and coaches, and our families. Now comes an opportunity to give back.
What does this mean? Everyone is different, but everyone can make a difference. If you all take a moment to think about how you most enjoy sharing things with others, you’ll probably find something that gives you as much satisfaction, as it gives support or help to someone else. It can be engaging in pro bono activities, sharing your experience with others, or it can simply be giving support to those who have supported you during the MBA.
It can be as straight forward as supporting a family member who embarks on his or her own professional journey, applying the knowledge you have gained during the MBA. Or, you can contribute to a wider community by joining the AEMBA Alumni more actively, on a smaller or larger scale. We are constantly looking for engaged Alumni who want to keep our network active, through afterworks, events, or linking us with interesting speakers who can share their experience for the benefit of Aerospacers and now, the TBS Alumni overall.
Finally, looking at the world around us, it seems it is becoming increasingly challenging to work internationally in constructive ways. This is where the experience we all have from the Aerospace MBA, discovering the benefits of diverse and multi-cultural teams, finding common ground to solve problems, leveraging the wealth of knowledge we can all bring together, can help. It can help in creating a more inclusive, a more productive, but also a more sustainable future. Especially, if we do it together.
This is what I hope that you, AEMBA Alumni, will bring from your years at the AEMBA, and into the Future. I look forward to building this Future together with you all, thanks to your insights, engagement, and energy.
Cecilia Skroder
President of the Aerospace MBA Alumni Association
If you want to contribute to the AEMBA Alumni, please contact us at aemba.alumni@tbs-education.org
