Tony Sadownichik OneMBA® Class of 2008 International Research Director Greenpeace International, The Netherlands

Why an MBA?
People ask, “What can you possibly do with an MBA at Greenpeace?”   They are surprised to learn that having a business and economic perspective is critical to my work.

Greenpeace strategies must be based on environmental solutions that address the needs of our stakeholders.  When we sit down with legislators, corporations or consumer groups, we can’t just say, “This is bad, and you should stop it.”   We must present a better way.  When we show that an environmentally sound solution may also be more profitable and economically sustainable, then we gain their attention and cooperation.   Business knowledge is critical to our success.

Building surprising alliances
Because of OneMBA, I’m more confident and willing to stretch myself to look for answers outside my comfort zone.  I was assigned to work on a global team with an ExxonMobil employee.  We were both pleasantly surprised that the reputations attached to our organizations don’t reflect who we are as people. We shared some of our organizations’ goals and expectations and found that Greenpeace and ExxonMobil had more in common than we expected.  Now I can go back to Greenpeace and say, “You know, there may be opportunities for us to work with ExxonMobil.”   That wouldn’t have happened without the OneMBA experience.

The OneMBA difference

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