Founded in 2010, EMI has published 9 Emerging Market Multinational Reports, organized 14 Annual Conferences, launched the Cornell EMI Mark Mobius Pitch Competition and the Cornell EMI Corning Case Competition. About 70 MBAs graduate every year as EMI Fellows. None of this would be possible without a great EMI team, the generous support of alumni, faculty, and Johnson community at large. I feel grateful and privileged to be part of the EMI community, and I am confident that EMI is in its second decade of excellence.”
– Lourdes Casanova, Gail and Rob Cañizares Director, EMI

Nominations open for the 2025 Cañizares Award. The award recognizes outstanding alumni from SC Johnson School of Management with international careers in emerging markets. The goal of the award is to engage alumni with the EMI to benefit its mission and raise awareness of the long history of the SC Johnson School of Management contribution to global businesses. Nominate until July 15.

Congratulations to the 117 EMI Fellows class of 2025. A record! The celebration hosted a keynote speech by Anupam Thareja, Founder of Phi Capital / Classic Legends, Mark Mobius, Chairman of Mobius Emerging Opportunities Fund, Andrew Karolyi, Charles Field Knight Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Vishal Gaur, Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean of the Johnson Graduate School of Management, and Lourdes Casanova, Gail and Roberto Cañizares EMI Director.

Best of luck for our alumni and please keep in touch.

Find pictures here and watch the recording on EMI’s YouTube video.

The 2025 Cornell EMI Mark Mobius Pitch Competition is an annual competition offering a unique learning opportunity for student entrepreneurs from around the globe. 51 startups from 28 business schools are competing for the $10,000 prize.. This year, the main theme will be: “AI Innovations for Emerging Markets: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities.”

Innovation and Transformation to Emerge Stronger

Authored by Lourdes Casanova and Anne Miroux (Emerging Markets Institute, Cornell University) in collaboration with Lorenzo Pavone, Edoardo Cozzi, and Gabriela Jimenez Echeverri (EmNet, OECD development Center); Momina Aijazuddin, Mehmet Akgunay, Shivani Komma, Ceren Ozhan, and Rafia Saleem (International Finance Corporation); Veneta Andonova and Juana García (Escuela de Administración at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia); Ricardo E. Buitrago (EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico), Xuelin Bu (Management School at Zhengzhou University in China), and Dr. Nalin Shinghal.

Watch the launch of the report!

Download the report

Last year’s conference, held on Oct 31 and Nov 1 at Cornell Tech in NYC, offered an exploration of how these dynamic economies are harnessing cutting-edge innovations and strategic transformations to redefine their paths to growth. Thank you to the 37 speakers, the attendees, and the sponsors. Watch the live streaming recording and save the date, November 7, 2025, for the Cornell EMI 2025 Annual Conference.

After a record-breaking in the 2024 Cornell EMI Corning Case Competition, with 705 participants forming 154 teams from 48 universities across 15 countries, the winners are:

• 1st Prize ($6,000), Vinception, VinUniversity (Vietnam)
• 2nd Prize ($3,000), OnsenTamaGO, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Japan)
• 3rd Prize ($1,000), Team RedBricks Solutions, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota (United States)

Congratulations!

In the past academic year, 72 fellows graduated, the 9th edition of the EMI Annual Conference had 500 attendees, 19 blogs were published, the EMI Report reached its 7th edition, and so much more happened! Join EMI in reflecting back on the past year’s events and achievements by checking the 2023-2024 Year in Review!

During the EMI conference 2023, EMI was recognized by the New York State Assembly as an ‘outstanding institution worthy of the esteem of both the Community and the Great State of New York’. This recognition would not have been possible without the hard work of the EMI team, EMI fellows, volunteers, alumni, EMI advisory council, colleagues and EMI’s networks. Thanks, Steven Raga, member of the NYS Assembly, who signed the recognition.

The inaugural EMI Distinguished Fellows will be awarded to Iván Duque, Former President of Colombia (2018-2022). The program aims to recognize excellence and foster meaningful engagement between students, academia and leaders from emerging markets. Congratulations to Iván Duque!

The Emerging Markets Global Players (EMGP), previously under Columbia University, is joining EMI network and management. EMGP‘s website is in the process of reactivation and all the great research and reports produced by the team will be made available soon. The EMGP research group and its Fellows have resumed meeting and will be included in EMI’s activities, going forward. A special thank you to Lisa Sachs, Director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment.

EMI is  proud to announce that its newly released book “Innovation from Emerging Markets: From Copycats to Leaders” is now available to buy from Cambridge University Press and Amazon in hardback and ebook format. This book aims to examine innovation and the leadership of noteworthy EMs countries and EMNCs. Thanks to the Emerging Multinationals Network, the joint efforts of various institutions around the world, comprised in this book.

EMI is grateful to Gail and Roberto Cañizares ’71, MBA ’74 for their $1.8 million gifit to EMI. The gift will establish the Emerging Markets Institute Case Writing Program pilot fund and the Cañizares Award for Distinguished Alumni in International Business and Emerging Markets. Read more about their generous gift!

Research takes a first-of-its-kind look at the fundamental risks associated in investing in emerging foreign markets