From Nigeria to ASU: Thunderbird grad finds her voice in global space leadership
Aisha Ndahi graduates this May from ASU with a Master of Global Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Courtesy photo
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2025 graduates.
Aisha Ndahi came to Arizona State University from Nigeria with a background in space science and a goal: to develop the leadership and management skills she needed to make a broader impact.
This spring, she graduates from the Thunderbird School of Global Management with a Master of Global Management (MGM), bringing together her technical foundation, consulting experience and passion for space sustainability.
Ndahi’s path to ASU was anything but typical. She holds a master’s degree in space science and technology with a focus on satellite communications, and she previously worked with Nigeria’s National Space Research and Development Agency.
“I got very excited with space and everything that is happening,” she said.
Her technical work laid a strong foundation, but she realized she wanted to bridge disciplines.
“I felt like there was still that gap where I needed some managerial skills. How can I fuse the technical background that I have in space science, technology and engineering with the managerial skill set?” Ndahi said.
She first explored that question through a consulting role at Ernst & Young. Eventually, she chose ASU — and Thunderbird — for its global, interdisciplinary approach.
“When I came to Thunderbird, I met the world,” she said.
A particularly impactful course was on negotiation and communication, where she learned about cultural nuances in business interactions.
“One thing might mean something good in one culture, but it can be interpreted the opposite in another,” she said. “That just opened my mind and changed my mindset.”
Her capstone project, the Global Challenge Lab, paired her team with Intel to develop AI-driven solutions for manufacturing, and it became one of several experiences that helped her think bigger about leadership in innovation. But it was her time as a student worker with the ASU Interplanetary Initiative that gave her the chance to apply those insights to space.
As a student worker with the Interplanetary Initiative, Ndahi supported project management across the initiative’s research portfolio, a collection of mission-driven, interdisciplinary projects exploring how humanity can create an inclusive and sustainable future in space. One project in particular, the Partnership Motivation Index, became a central focus of her time with the initiative. The research explored how to enable commercially led, capacity-building partnerships between established and emerging space powers.
“Working with the Interplanetary pilot project portfolio has actually expanded my view on what project management is,” she said. “It has really shifted my thinking and approach to things.”
She also became one of the most-viewed contributors on the Interplanetary Initiative’s YouTube series, Space for Humans, where she starred in an episode on Nigeria’s role as an emerging spacefaring nation. The video has been viewed nearly 28,000 times at the time this article was published, making it one of the channel’s most-watched episodes and expanding her reach to a global audience. The experience pushed her beyond her comfort zone.
“I just encouraged myself to do things even while I'm still scared,” she said. “That's the definition of what bravery is.”
Her efforts to increase visibility and inclusion in the space industry extended beyond research and media. At Thunderbird, she also helped establish the first local Mars Society chapter in Arizona.
“People just think, 'Oh, space is for the scientists and the engineers.' But really, management is also needed for space,” she explained.
As she looks ahead, Ndahi hopes to find a role where she can combine her interests in systems, strategy and sustainability, ideally one that allows her to support positive social change. But even more, she wants to inspire others to see themselves in STEM, particularly young women in developing countries.
“I would like to see the younger generations of girls be more interested in STEM,” she said. “Just from them seeing like, 'Oh, someone like me can achieve this' ... just inspiring that hope.”
Looking back, she credits ASU and the Interplanetary Initiative for expanding her perspective and building her confidence.
“We're literally living and breathing the future of space,” she said.
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