In this engaging conversation, Maria Laine shares her journey from her unique upbringing in Finland and Sweden to her successful career at Boeing. She reflects on a truly meaningful day at Thunderbird—standing at the podium as keynote speaker while her daughter crossed the stage as a graduate. Maria discusses the importance of mentorship, cultural insights, and the skills needed for success in the aerospace industry, especially in the context of AI advancements. She emphasizes the value of stepping out of comfort zones and offers advice for aspiring leaders, particularly women, in navigating their careers. Maria concludes with a heartfelt message to the Thunderbird community, highlighting its relevance in today's rapidly changing world.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-laine-8b61ba11/

Thunderbird Graduation Speech

With more than 30 years of aerospace and defense experience, Maria Laine leads the Business Capture and Operations organization of Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) at Boeing’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. In this role she is responsible for the functional excellence of the business development organization which includes leading the proposal development efforts for U.S. Government and international defense campaigns, leading the campaign and competitive analysis teams, the financial management and business operations teams, as well as the training and development teams. Prior to taking on her current role, Laine served as president of Boeing in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Nordic region based in London covering Boeing’s enterprise wide interests across the region in one of Boeing’s largest markets and footprints outside the United States. Prior to the move to London, Laine was leading global business development for Boeing’s defense portfolio and she has an extensive background in global defense acquisition programs, US Government Foreign Military Sales and global Industrial Cooperation Programs. Prior to her 32 year career at Boeing spanning a variety of different roles in numerous global locations, Laine also worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration on the Nordic desks, as well as at the US Embassy in Helsinki in the Commercial section. Laine has also served on multiple non-profit boards to include on the Board of Trustees of the Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG), the International Advisory Board of British-American Business (BAB), both in London. She previously also served as Chairman of the Board of the Global Industrial Cooperation Association (GICA), as well as on the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Denmark. She was also named a visiting professor at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) while based in the UK. Laine has an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona and a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from the University of California Santa Barbara. Laine was born in Finland, spent her childhood in Sweden and moved to the United States in 1975, after which she has moved back and forth across the Atlantic numerous times. Her native languages include Finnish, Swedish and English, and she has studied French, Spanish and Dutch. She is married and has two daughters.

This podcast is sponsored by Freshwater Investments