SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--California College of the Arts in San Francisco is pleased to announce the fall 2014 launch of two groundbreaking master of business administration programs: the MBA in Strategic Foresight and the MBA in Public Policy Design. These programs build on the foundational concepts and curriculum of CCA’s highly successful MBA in Design Strategy program, which provides students with a strategic framework for looking at design methods, sustainability, systems thinking, finance, entrepreneurship, and generative leadership. (The MBA in Design Strategy launched in 2008 as one of the very first degree programs of its kind, and has to date graduated approximately 150 students from around the world.)
The chair and founder of all three programs, Nathan Shedroff, explains, “Forward-thinking organizations today are demanding creative leadership in the people they hire, and we are excited to respond to that demand with these new specialties.”
MBA in Strategic Foresight
CCA’s MBA in Strategic Foresight is designed to develop leaders who can inspire companies, NGOs, and governments to imagine better futures. Students also learn to manage the processes of creating and implementing new business models and strategies in order to make those futures real.
The foresight discipline has been a mainstay of serious business strategy since its tools were first developed and formalized at Royal Dutch Shell in the 1970s. Since then, ever more sophisticated tools and facilitation techniques have emerged to help organizations take advantage of rapidly changing times. CCA puts these together here in a unique studio format, intended to inspire future leaders to achieve positive change.
There is an intense demand for these skills today. Chris Luebkeman, director for global foresight and innovation at Arup Foresight, reports, “Practitioners are often hampered by their inability to connect their visionary skills with pragmatic business realities. The capability to reach high with one toe still connected to the ground is what we need today as we face the ever-increasing complexity of contemporary problem sets.”
MBA in Public Policy Design
CCA’s MBA in Public Policy Design prepares innovators to create lasting change in government and public institutions. Will Semmes, associate program chair, explains, “One of our generation’s greatest global challenges is bringing government into the 21st century. This program offers a project-based curriculum that provides future leaders with the skills, knowledge, and techniques they’ll need to make positive, constructive changes happen.”
White House Innovation Fellow and CCA MBA in Design Strategy alumnus Adam Dole explains, “There has never been a more critical time in our country’s history to bring new perspectives and skill sets into government. Aspects of health care, education, energy, and other sectors have proven unsustainable, and the future of our country depends on bringing policy makers together with talented entrepreneurs, designers, and engineers to forge new approaches to tackling our nation’s biggest challenges.”
Dole continues, “The launch of this program is an important catalyst for change and will create a new generation of leaders whose skill sets enable them to influence the highest levels of government, improve the design of government services, and create new opportunities for public/private partnerships that have the potential to positively impact the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans—not only today, but generations into the future.”
To Apply
Applications for both new programs become available November 1, 2013, at cca.edu. The priority deadline for students entering in fall 2014 is January 5, 2014. Competition is expected to be high; for the inaugural year, the programs are limiting the incoming cohort to just 15 students each.
Prospective students are encouraged to attend an information session at CCA’s San Francisco campus on Thursday, November 14, 2013, at 7 p.m. To register to attend the info session, visit cca.edu/calendar/graduate-admissions or contact CCA’s Graduate Admissions Office at graduateprograms@cca.edu.
Read more about all three of CCA’s MBA programs at cca.edu/designmba.
About California College of the Arts
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts (CCA) offers 22 undergraduate and 12 graduate programs in the areas of fine arts, architecture, design, and writing. The college offers BFA, BA, MFA, MA, MBA, BArch, MArch, and MAAD degrees. It has campuses in San Francisco and Oakland, and currently enrolls 1,950 full-time students. CCA students are encouraged to work in an interdisciplinary manner, undertaking projects and collaborations with students in other majors and engaging with outside communities.
