Fundraising and development
As a non-profit academic institution, IMD relies on the generous support of its donors to fund strategic priorities – priorities that play a pivotal role in our mission of challenging what is and inspiring what could be.
Advancing together with the IMD donor community
As a non-profit academic institution, IMD relies on the generous support of its donors to fund strategic priorities – priorities that play a pivotal role in our mission of challenging what is and inspiring what could be.
IMD’s generous donors, who hail from both the alumni community and beyond, fund scholarships for the brightest candidates, enhance the IMD learning environment, and enable faculty to conduct innovative research.
Fostering tomorrow’s leadership through scholarships
At the heart of IMD’s commitment to fostering diverse, inclusive leadership – leadership that will rise to tomorrow’s challenges – lie scholarships. Indeed, although talent is ubiquitous, access to opportunity is not. Scholarships are therefore a cornerstone of IMD’s development strategy if it is to continue challenging what is and inspiring what could be in the increasingly complex and interconnected global society we live in.
IMD’s donor community is strengthening tomorrow’s leadership by providing individuals who have the talent and tenacity to succeed with the means to access IMD’s world-renowned, executive education.
Nadia Kobyliak, a public sector project manager working on civil and corporate governance reforms in Ukraine, was able to attend the Strategies for Leadership program thanks to a donor-funded scholarship. Empowering Women in Leadership through Executive Education supports exceptional women who excel in their careers but who cannot afford a top-tier business education.
“The program taught me the importance of speaking up. Now I do it more often and it has worked out well for me in a lot of situations. It was a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel when it was needed.” — Nadia Kobyliak, a public sector project manager
Over the course of 2022, the generosity of IMD’s donor community enabled twenty up-and-coming leaders, from all walks of life, to pursue a unique learning journey at IMD. And the trend looks set to continue with more than 340 donors and 70 ambassadors raising over CHF 300,000 during IMD’s second Annual Campaign for Scholarships – the flagship event of which is Giving Day.
“I count myself among the lucky and privileged ones who were fortunate enough to study at IMD. Such an opportunity remains inaccessible to many people. If we want to enable disruptive innovation, we need to ensure that there is diversity of thought leadership.”
Sandro Sulcis, Giving Day donor, EMBA alumnus.
By strengthening the diversity of voices at leadership tables around the world, this support plays a crucial role in shaping the sustainable, inclusive, and prosperous future society so desperately needs.
2022 also saw the creation of the Hilti IMD MBA Scholars Program and the BackPack-Excellence Scholarship for Women. Over the next ten years, the Hilti Program will enable 60 STEM professionals to acquire the leadership skills needed to shape our shared, high-tech future. The BackPack scholarship aims to provide a transformational experience to talented, determined women who have been forced to flee conflict, natural disaster, or persecution at some point in their lives.
To support entrepreneurs of the future one MBA candidate or a team of MBA candidates each year will receive the MBA Venture Award, also inaugurated in 2022. The financial grant of 100,000 Swiss francs has been made possible by IMD alumnus and serial entrepreneur Thierry Maupilé.
In parallel, our donors have supported the advancement of rigorous, relevant, insightful, and actionable research – research that is informed by the practical challenges facing executives around the world – both through thematic initiatives and professorial Chairs. For example, a donor-funded initiative will contribute to increasing the practitioner’s understanding of venture asset management in Europe and Switzerland.
Partnering with Swiss Ventures Group, a privately funded group that has become one of the most active early-stage investors in Switzerland, has made possible the Venture Asset Management Competence Center – an innovation hub to create valuable academic research.
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400+ Donors
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20 IMD Scholarship Foundation awards
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What our donors supported in 2022
40 %
Scholarships
30 %
Research
30 %
Endowment
Professorial Chairs
Nestlé (Founding Chair)
Leadership
Jean-Francois Manzoni
Rio Tinto (Founding Chair)
Stakeholder Engagement
David Bach
Arthur Andersen Chair
Financial Management
No chair holde
Cisco Chair
Digital Business Transformation
Michael Wade
Coca-Cola Chair
Consumer Insights and Customer Marketing
No chair holder
Debiopharm Chair
Family Business and Philanthropy
Peter Vogel
Dentsu Chair
Japanese Management
No chair holder
elea Chair
Social Innovation
Vanina Farber
Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Chair
Responsible Leadership
No chair holder
LEGO Chair
Management and Innovation
Howard Yu
Lundin Chair
Sustainability
Knut Haanaes
Martin Hilti Chair
Marketing and Change Management
Seán Meehan
Sandoz Family Foundation Chair
Leadership and Sustainability
Didier Cossin
Shell Chair
Global Leadership
Anand Narasimhan
Stephan Schmidheiny Chair
Entrepreneurship and Finance
Benoît Leleux
UBS Chair
Banking and Financial Services
No chair holder
Wild Group Chair
Family Business
Alfredo De Massis
Thank you
IMD’s success results from a combination of factors, including the ongoing support and commitment of its alumni and donor community.
The Alumni and Development team are grateful to all of you who have made this year’s accomplishments possible.