Photo: Dr. Chakraborty is a professor at Shri Shikshayatan College in Kolkata.
Tupperware is making strides toward women’s economic empowerment and social change through Global Links, a public private partnership launched in 2011.
The program was co-founded by Orlando-based Tupperware and nearby Rollins College, with the support of the U.S. Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues. The aim is to grow entrepreneurial opportunities for women in developing and post-conflict countries. Through Global Links, scholars from these countries are handpicked to travel to the U.S. for about a year, where they receive immersive training in social entrepreneurship.
“For more than 70 years, we have provided women with opportunities to grow as entrepreneurs and business leaders,” said Rick Goings, Tupperware Chairman and CEO. “Global Links takes this effort a step further, connecting scholars across cultures to disseminate best practices in entrepreneurship to communities in developing countries.”
This month, the third Global Links scholar, Dr. Rumpa Chakraborty, arrived in Orlando. Like her predecessor in the program, Chakraborty hails from India, where she is a professor of finance and accounting at Shri Shikshayatan College, a liberal arts women’s college in Kolkata. India currently boasts the 10th-largest economy in the world, but female participation in the job market hovers around 35 percent.
During her time in the U.S., Chakraborty will participate in business classes at the Rollins College Social Entrepreneurship and Business Department and Crummer Graduate School of Business. The program also provides hands-on training through an externship at Tupperware’s global headquarters.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to enrich my knowledge of entrepreneurship and women’s economic empowerment,” Chakraborty said in a news release. “Most of all, through Global Links, I look forward to helping my students work with real-life entrepreneurs in India, especially those from underprivileged communities and rural areas.”
Upon returning to India, Chakraborty will apply her experience both inside and outside the classroom. She is faculty coordinator of the entrepreneurship program at Shri Shikshayatan College, and she regularly offers career development workshops and seminars. Building upon these efforts, Chakraborty plans to launch a community service project for students to mentor local women on running a business.