History of the Academy

From “People to People” to “Leader to Leader”

In July of 1955 the President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Nikita Khrushchev, met in Geneva. As the course of the meeting promised hopes for “years of the Thaw” in the East-West relationships, President Eisenhower has addressed to the nation:

“The subject of my special attention was opportunity of increase in the number of trips of citizens of one country to another. The American people want to be friends with the Soviet people. There are no natural differences between our peoples or our nations. There are no territorial conflicts or commercial rivalries. Historically, our two countries have always been at peace.”

To follow up on this invitation, President Eisenhower invited a group of leaders of business and society to join him at a special conference in the White House that took place on September 12, 1956. Participants of the meeting decided to establish an international organization under the name «People to People».The name itself was chosen to reflect the mission of «People to People International» (PTPI) - to organize face to face meetings for people from different countries and contribute to overcoming intercultural stereotypes and prejudices. Founders of the PTPI headed up various committees of the new organization: governmental, business, agricultural, medical field, arts, et cetera. The Board of Trustees was created having the remarkable Walt Disney among its members. The First brochure for PTPI was written by Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner. Furthermore, according to the established tradition, the newly elected president of the USA becomes the honorary chairman of PTPI.

In the early nineties, following the collapse of the USSR, the private sector began to develop, creating a need for new directions and forms of international cooperation. Special survey was developed and conducted out for the representatives of the western companies working in Russia and their Russian partners. The results of this survey revealed successful strategies for cooperation, as well as reasons for possible failures. Based on that analysis Mark Tourevski and Ejlin Morgan wrote the book “Cutting the Red Tape: How Western Companies Can Profit in the New Russia.” This book was published in New York by Macmillan, The Free Press, in 1993, and received enthusiastic responses and great regards among business and academic circles. Moreover, the results of the research presented opportunities for the PTPI, leading to a launch of a new international project, “Partnership Beyond Stereotypes: Leader to Leader Dialogue.”

“Partnership Beyond Stereotypes” (PBS) Project strived to discover the most illustrative and convincing examples of successful and positive business leadership in Russia, and present these examples at seminars, conferences and round tables in the countries of North America and the Western Europe. Under the guidelines of the project, chief executives of the western companies met "face to face" with the most advanced colleagues from the countries with economies in transition. These meetings promoted cooperation in overcoming negative stereotypes and prejudices and developing new partnerships.

 

From Random Meetings to Social Capital Development

By 1995 the information about more than one thousand Russian and Western companies-participants has been accumulated in the database of PBS. The information, experience and the contacts which have been accumulated within PBS represented a unique opportunity for social capital development among PBS participants. To progress from random meetings to a vibrant social network, participants of PBS united into a new organization – “The International Academy for Leadership in Business and Administration.” With the support of PTPI, the Academy was launched as a non-commercial, non-governmental organization aiming to transform resources of the “Partnership Beyond Stereotypes” into social capital of the members of the Academy.

The Academy provides access to international information, new technologies and financial resources for business leaders from Russia , Ukraine and other countries of Eurasia .

The Academy strives to connect the best in the Western traditions with the best in local cultures and economies. This approach makes the Academy a form of "laboratory" which collects the best of the business world and allows integrating and applying the most interesting and valuable approaches and tools of sustainable business development.