We've had a very busy Fall 2023!
As part of the Vivek and Vandana Sharma (VVS) India Initiative, FedEx President and CEO Raj Subramaniam delivered the Fall India Lecture. A last-minute infection prevented Raj from delivering the talk in person, but we had a terrific discussion via Zoom on his 32-year career at FedEx and his views on digitization, de-globalization, key emerging markets, and sustainability. In October, we also organized a full-day summit on “India–The Next Startup Nation?” featuring founders of Indian unicorns, leading investors, and senior policymakers. Over 600 people attended the summit, in person or virtually, including dozens of students who left inspired by what they heard. You can view videos of these and other events on CEM's YouTube playlist.
Through the Sharma India Initiative, CEM again co-sponsored the social innovation pitchfest at GITAM University in Hyderabad in August 2023. Over 1,000 college teams from across India competed for cash prizes and the chance to win expense-paid trips to Boston to learn first-hand about Boston's startup ecosystem.
The Srinivasan Family Awards for student projects in emerging markets attracted a record number of submissions in the Fall cycle. The seven award winners will be working on projects in Brazil, Dubai, Kenya, Nepal, and Uganda. A newly launched CEM Student Associate program will encourage students to engage deeply with CEM over their time at the university, including working as research assistants to CEM Faculty Fellows. It will also enable students to get life-transforming immersion experiences in emerging markets, e.g. by attending COP28 climate negotiations or global trade discussions at the WTO Public Forum (as three students did this Fall).
The Nardone Family Seminar Series featured six speakers and hosted three visiting scholars this fall. To deepen its engagement in Africa, CEM again collaborated with Northeastern University's Africa Global Initiative to organize Africa Business Week, a two-day summit exploring the latest trends and innovations in Africa. CEM board member, Mezuo Nwuneli, was the opening keynote speaker. The fourth edition of Insights @ Center for Emerging Markets translated cutting-edge academic research on corporate social responsibility into content that practitioners and policymakers could digest and use. For the first time, it featured research by both Northeastern University professors and leading scholars from around the world.
Six CEM Faculty Fellows, and President Joseph Aoun, were featured in the latest seasons of the International Business Today podcast produced by my colleagues Professors Paula Caligiuri and Ravi Sarathy. This fall, CEM welcomed David De Cremer as the new Dunton Family Dean of the D'Amore-McKim School of Business. We look forward to working with David to integrate CEM even more closely with the school's strategy.
CEM also added its first Advisory Board member from Brazil–Luiz R. Vasconcelos, President, FedEx-LAC. We welcome four professors who joined over 70 others to become CEM Faculty Fellows, and are delighted to host Professor Sonia Rolland of NU's law school as part of the Provost's Interdisciplinary Research Sabbatical program.
We look forward to an even more successful 2024, including hosting the next India Lecture in March 2024 featuring Suresh Muthuswami, Chairman, Tata Consultancy Services, North America. With thanks to all our supporters and best wishes for 2024!