After finishing her undergraduate studies, she entered the master’s program in Chinese language and society.  Hammerstrøm picked a particularly opportune time to learn Chinese and understand a country that soon would expand its global impact on the international business world. Her background also would lead her to a career path in higher education.

Shanghai would be the first stop in that career, when she accepted a position at BI Norwegian Business School. She relocated to Shanghai as the first BI staff member to coordinate the joint BI-Fudan MBA Program onsite. The program began as part of the Nordic Center at Fudan University, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The program will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year. “Our program was the first real content in that center.”

Those transformative years brought new challenges in promoting the program, launching new technology, and building the organization, she says. When she returned to Norway, she wanted a deeper dive into business and enrolled in BI’s EMBA Program. “I felt I was really missing out,” says Hammerstrøm. “The program gave me much inspiration and motivation to develop and continue improving products.”

After completing her EMBA Program, she returned to China much more prepared to tackle new opportunities, including rebranding the program. “I learned all of that in my program, and it was cool to apply what I learned.”

Between living in China for six years and continuing to travel back and forth, Hammerstrøm has noted changes in the Chinese market. “I’ve had the opportunity to watch the shift in Chinese development and internationalization,” she says.

Those changes have impacted the approach to management education. When she began as the MBA Program’s coordinator, the interest lay in sharing Western management theories and practices. “Now it’s much more about enabling Chinese domestic companies with their international strategies.”

Her cross-cultural knowledge enhances her ability to approach challenges and drive innovations. “The key is to really learn everyone’s perspective, and if you can just align those perspectives and help people understand your position and you can understand them, it’s possible to have common ground where you can start working on your common challenges.”

In 2013, Hammerstrøm moved back to Norway to oversee BI’s China programs, and in 2019 become director of all executive degree programs. She currently oversees four executive degrees, the BI-Fudan MBA, the EMBA, and executive master’s programs in energy and in management, as well as new responsibilities for customized programs.

Hammerstrøm enjoys working with her team to identify marketplace changes and program innovations. The team led a switch in format and delivery from an in-person to a hybrid program and recently remodeled the EMBA Program, bolstering leadership development and integrating sustainability into the core curriculum. The changes helped spur enrollment growth.

“It’s really a privilege to work in a program with people who are willing to make changes,” says Hammerstrøm. “It’s constantly creating the common ground for what we’re actually doing and where we’re going – I think that’s the most interesting part. Having good people around you to be able to have those conversations, that’s the best.”

It was a colleague who first introduced her to EMBAC. She began attending conferences and later presented a conference concurrent session. She also served on the Scottsdale, Arizona, conference planning committee and was elected to the EMBAC Board of Trustees in 2024. EMBAC offers many benefits, she says.

“I think it’s a great way to learn what’s moving and shaking in the industry, and, of course, the network is amazing. It’s a super inspiring community.”

Hammerstrøm also shared the following insights with EMBAC Voice:

• My hobbies include: “Knitting, sewing, singing in a church choir, and powerlifting.”
• My favorite city is: “That rotates a lot, but right now it’s Paris”
• I’m most proud of: “My daughter and son”
• I’m reading: “Skråpånatta, by Lars Mytting”
• I’m passionate about: “Professionally, I’m very passionate about executive education and Executive MBAs in our program but also internationalization. I’m very passionate about staying connected with people abroad to understand because if you understand yourself from the outside, you also can understand your growth potential.”
• My next project is: “Drafting the international strategy for BI.”
• You may not know that: “I spent one year in asylum seekers camp. My mother was a teacher at the camp for asylum seekers from Yugoslavia during the war in Kosovo. That year is probably the reason I went the direction I did. This was my first international exposure as a child.”
• When I think about EMBAC, I think: “About great people.”

Less...