Unicon: The International University Consortium for Executive Education

14/10/2026

Member Spotlight: Christopher Hobrecker, Institute for Management Development IMD . Christopher leads client and market development at IMD in Lausanne, with a background that spans retail, major events, procurement and emergency response. In this Spotlight he talks about what that mix brings to executive education, the moment learning turns into real impact, and what he values in the UNICON network.

Read the full Spotlight: https://uniconexed.org/unicon-spotlight/unicon-spotlight-christopher-hobrecker/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=news200

09/10/2026

Registration is open for the UNICON Directors' Conference 2027: Sydney and Melbourne, 4-7 May 2027.

We open in Sydney with AGSM @ UNSW Business School (4-5 May) and close in Melbourne with Melbourne Business School (6-7 May), with the flight between the two cities arranged by the hosts.

Jenny George (Dean, Melbourne Business School) and Nick Wailes (Director, AGSM) invite you: https://shorturl.at/Fbkxf

Register: https://unicon.guroo.academy/enrol/unicon_2027

Full details, speakers and hotels:

UNICON is a global consortium of business‐school‐based executive education organizations with over 115 members worldwide. Our members are the faces of UNICON who make up our organization and help us fulfill our mission of providing executive educational professionals with the best resources th...

02/10/2026

A letter to the UNICON membership. Board Chair Aldemir Drummond (Fundação Dom Cabral) and Executive Director Melanie Weaver Barnett set out UNICON's objective for 2026-27 and the three priorities behind it: activate the network as a high-impact learning platform, ensure a high-quality, global network of member schools, and lead capability building in the executive education business.

Read the letter: https://shorturl.at/vgwOD

01/10/2026

Two days in Istanbul with more than 20 leaders from 14 member schools across Europe, hosted by the Executive Development Unit at University. Governance and cooperation models, culture and geopolitics, and a look at executive education in 2031. Thank you to the Sabanci team for hosting, and to everyone who travelled to be there.

Full recap: https://uniconexed.org/conference-highlights/unicon-european-meetup-2026-istanbul/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=news200

29/09/2026

Six years on the UNICON Board, and a year to remember. Outgoing Board Chair Shalini Bhatia (Stanford Graduate School of Business) looks back on 2025-26: record participation, with 71% of member schools at the Team Development Conference and 55% at the Directors' Conference; eight new associate members and six schools awarded full membership; four research reports; and, for the first time, UNICON's reserves funded under a formal governance policy.

Shalini also championed the new Accelerator Series, UNICON's answer to members asking for more accessible professional development. The first programme, the Business Development Accelerator, is now under way with Shalini as Programme Co-Director, alongside Shaun Rozyn.

Read the full year in review: https://shorturl.at/lAqV3

Thank you, Shalini. The chair role now passed to Aldemir Drummond ( Dom Cabral). Watch this space for future plans!

10/09/2026

Two days, 14 leading European schools, one very good reason to be in Istanbul: 🇪🇺 🇹🇷 ☕ There was a lot of Turkish coffee. And at least one cat who joined the Collaboration Marketplace uninvited and, frankly, contributed.

The UNICON European Meet-Up took us from Sabanci University's Tuzla campus to the Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi on the Bosphorus, with a lot of collaboration talk in between.

Somewhere between the campus tour, the networking dinner and the group photo, executive education leaders from across Europe worked out what they can build together that none of them can build alone. The sunshine helped.

Huge thanks to Sabancı University Executive Development Unit (EDU) for hosting us so warmly. Photos below. Cat included.

12/08/2026

Three days. One big question: how do we redesign executive education for the speed of 2027? 🌵☀️
Spots are open now and early bird pricing is available: https://uniconexed.org/event-news/unicon-team-development-conference-tdc-2026/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=unicon_tdc_2026

Join us at the UNICON Team Development Conference 2026, hosted by Arizona State University in Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale, November 18–20.

Theme: Innovation Architecture for Global Impact. Equipping the hyperdynamic leader: redesigning executive education for the velocity of 2027

✨ Keynotes and breakout sessions ✨ Signature ASU experiences ✨ A community of exec ed leaders from around the world

See you in Arizona!

04/08/2026

Introducing the UNICON Business Development Accelerator, the first program in our new Accelerator Series! Details and registration: uniconexed.org/bd

Five live virtual sessions from September 2026 to January 2027, designed for the business development and sales professionals who grow executive education, co-led by leaders from across the UNICON community.

Our instructors and contributors: Shalini Bhatia (Stanford Graduate School of Business) and Shaun Rozyn (Duke Corporate Education) as Program Co-Directors, with Melanie Weaver Barnett (UNICON), Nathalie Nawrocki (INSEAD), Pravashen Pillay (GIBS), Devin Bigoness (UVA Darden), Meg Regan (MIT Sloan Executive Education), Stuart Wells (Alliance Manchester), Anna Dunand (Institute for Management Development IMD), Nicholas Hamilton-Archer (Ross School of Business), Bryan Benjamin (The Ivey Academy), and Jon Kaupla (USF Muma).

Registration is now open, and places are limited.

Build your BD skills with leaders from top business schools. Five live online sessions, September 2026 to January 2027. Group discounts available.

19/07/2026

🌐🎬 The UNICON Annual Workshop... in 3 minutes!

Two days at MIT Sloan School of Management, one big question: what does it mean to be human in the age of AI?

This recap video captures the ideas, the energy, and the moments in between that made this workshop unforgettable. 🎥

Massive thank you to everyone who joined us in Cambridge, our incredible speakers, and the whole MIT Sloan Executive Education team for hosting us.

Until November for our Team Development Conference, UNICON friends! 💙

18/07/2026

🌐 UNICON and MIT Sloan Executive Education crew alongside 90+ reps from the world's leading business schools, checking in from Cambridge!

Two days. One big question: what does it mean to be human in the age of AI? And is there anything more human than UNICON Conferences and the friendships we build along the way?

We did talk all things AI at MIT Sloan School of Management. But the real magic happened in between: we "decorated" dishes together (results may vary 😅), listened to some great tunes 🎶, and got crafty cutting and knotting our own fleece blankets.

The first photos from just dropped and the nostalgia is already real. More pics and a recap video coming your way soon!