AACSB Honors Alumna

Bradley business alumna Michele Sullivan ’87 MBA ’89 is one of 29 leaders honored by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business as part of the 2018 Influential Leaders Challenge. The awards celebrated business professionals for addressing social, economic, environmental and educational challenges.

As an annual initiative, the challenge honors notable alumni from accredited schools whose inspiring work serves as a model for the next generation of business leaders. Sullivan serves as the director of corporate social innovation and president of the Caterpillar Foundation. In this role, she has championed the shift in Caterpillar’s philanthropic philosophy to a strategic focus that looks at the root causes of issues, making the manufacturing giant an influential change agent.

“Each honoree from the 2018 class of Influential Leaders reflects the mindset, knowledge, and passion that impactful business leaders must embody to impart positive change in today’s society,” said Thomas R. Robinson, president and CEO of AACSB. “We would like to thank Michele for demonstrating the true excellence and leadership we wish to see in the world, and we congratulate Bradley University and the Foster College of Business for their role in helping to mold a new generation of global business leaders dedicated to driving impact that results in global prosperity.”

Sullivan’s award is in the “Alumni Business Leaders Working in Nonprofit or Community-Based Organizations” category. Individuals in this group are leaders serving nonprofit and community-based organizations making societal impacts from a local level to a global reach. With initiatives that include navigating the Hurricane Harvey crisis, transforming the lives of more than 150 million children around the world annually and combating the root causes of poverty, AACSB graduates demonstrate that some of the world’s most impactful work occurs within smaller-sector opportunities.