EMBA-Global: Fifth Year Anniversary

As London and Columbia Business Schools get ready to celebrate the fifth year anniversary of EMBA-Global Lyn Hoffman, Associate Dean of the Executive MBA & Sloan Programmes, reflects on the programme’s early years and we talk to Ana Cabral Gardner, one of EMBA-Global’s recent graduates about what makes the programme so unique.

Five years ago, London Business School teamed up with Columbia Business School in New York to launch EMBA-Global, a dual-degree executive MBA programme. It was the first time that two leading business schools had formed such an equal partnership, with costs, revenue, faculty and decision making split 50-50. "We both felt that we were treading new ground," says Lyn Hoffman.

EMBA-Global was born from the energy and determination of previous London Business School and Columbia Deans, John Quelch and Meyer Feldberg respectively. "They simply made it happen," Lyn says. Five years on, the programme is still strong. EMBA-Global boasts 310 alumni from 42 countries, with 44% of students hailing from outside of the US and UK.

The programme has exceeded expectations from the starting date as class sizes continue to grow. "The programme gives students experience in two of the most important financial centres of the world," Lyn says. "And students benefit from access to extraordinary networks on both campuses."

The working professionals start the programme in London. The Class of 2008 eagerly arrived on campus on May 8th – From now on they will alternate each month between London and New York City, where they will eventually graduate. For each course, faculty are selected from a joint roster of 400, and students receive two MBA degrees accredited by the University of London and Columbia Business School.

Recruitment of the programme will only benefit with alumni such as Ana Cabral-Gardner who graduated in 2004. Recognised as one of the 85 most impressive women in the Goldman Sachs alumni network, Ana has recently been included in the book, "More than 85 Broads: Women Making career Choices, Taking Risks, and Defining success – On Their Own Terms" (McGraw Hill), launched in the US. Now as Director of Equity Capital Markets at Credit Suisse in New York, Ana continues to notch successes. "I love what I do, and the programme enabled me to realize my goals. It was a life-changing experience." she says.

Ana cites the quality of teaching and of having some 400 of the best faculty available to her meant she was able to gain a complete understanding of her focussed area, Capital Markets and complex equity products. The programme was crucial to providing the longevity in her career. By the second year she says, she knew what her career course would be, she had gained the tools and perspective to enable the change.

Ana says her initial idea was to do a PhD but the EMBA-Global allowed her the best tweak possible in terms of the electives choices on offer at both schools. She says she was able to take the most advanced highly quantative classes on offer and in so doing expanded her view of the world. “The exposure to successful practitioners on the theoretical side – for instance, learning from an 18 year serving partner from Goldman Sachs was mesmerizing”.

Ana recalls her China Trip, taken in March 2004 as the crowning moment of the whole programme. “It was amazing to have been given an insiders view of China. By gaining a good understanding of where China is in terms of global business positioning EMBA-Global created a transforming learning experience”.

The ability of the students to instantly gain a global network and have access to two world renowned facilities, two exceptional alumni networks, and business capitals really marks out the EMBA-Global from other Executive MBA programmes. Ana states that, “it’s great in that you don’t have to commit to one city, you can have a dual city or bi-coastal life style and the flexibility of the programme enables you to achieve this”.