Joerg Geier

Sustainability strategist. Systems thinker. Project director. A bridge builder who has been active across different networks and organizations in multiple countries and cultures. As a Director of Executive Education and Sustainability Programs at Thunderbird School of Global Management, I am merging my extensive experience in sustainable innovation, capacity building and ecosystem development.  I am the former Director of Executive Education at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School where I helped drive capacity building initiatives spanning three continents.  I am a member and former Deputy Secretary General of the Club of Rome, a think tank of eminent scholars. business leaders, and policymakers focused on long-term scenarios.

I challenge people to envision a future that works for all. As a Fulbright scholar, MBA, creative thinker, applied researcher, and program director, I have, on behalf of start-ups and corporations, developed projects & initiatives in the areas of cleantech/sustainability, leadership education, impact entrepreneurship, innovation ecosystems, and impact investing, primarily from a strategic and business development angle.

 As a co-founder and partner of PDIE (Purpose-driven Innovation Ecosystem) Group, I have consulted on sustainability-driven ecosystems and how to develop corresponding strategies. I have run, together with other practitioners, workshops and leadership programs focused on systems transformation. I have initiated and coordinated projects questioning society's status quo. This included a conference co-hosted by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture and the Club of Rome that I operationalized: the Vatican “Watershed” conference on World Water Day 2017 articulated stories on the value and values of water and brought together leaders from businesses, government entities, international and not-for-profit organizations.

On behalf of the Borderstep Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (Berlin), I contributed to an EU research project on the transformation of entrepreneurship support systems toward sustainability.

 In my speeches, I offer alternative perspectives on how to build a future based on long-term thinking. I bring together unique insights from a business and scientific perspective and draw on my experience and skills gained from the start-up world and leadership education.

I am a co-founder and program chair of the Arts & Nature Social Club, a not-for-profit whose mission it is to sensitize leaders to planetary challenges. My volunteer roles have included climate mentor at Founder Institute, SAP.iO Venture Studio, and Allianz Explorer Camp | Climate Edition. I am also a member of the Energy Academy, a think tank focused on the transition to renewables, and have served as a judge in UC Berkeley’s Big Ideas contest.

During a Fulbright scholarship, I completed my MBA at Golden Gate University (San Francisco, CA).