Cargill’s Women Leaders of the Future Program doubles its impact
The program implemented by Cargill in cooperation with the Turkish Education Foundation (TEV) in 2021 has reached nearly 200 university students across the country
Cargill’s award-winning Women Leaders of the Future Program, which was established in 2021 in collaboration with TEV, will double in capacity as it enters its fourth year of training future female leaders in Türkiye.
The program was launched in recognition of the importance of education in ensuring that women can contribute to their societies on an equal footing with men and for human development. Cargill is working to make gender equality a permanent value for stronger tomorrows both globally and in Türkiye, in line with the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
2023 enrolment for the program has just opened with a total of 63 university students already signed up. New global funding support will enable the program to double the number of participating students over the next three years, increasing the number of participating students up to 600 by 2027.
Nearly 200 university students from 30 different universities in 16 provinces across the country have already benefited from the scholarship since 2021. According to TEV impact analysis, graduates of the program are 10x more likely to pursue higher education. 60% have joined the workforce to date, taking the first step towards becoming tomorrow’s female leaders.
The program aims to equip female students with the tools they need to pursue leadership opportunities in the workplace, with opportunities such as scholarships, internships, mentoring, on-site training in production facilities, book/audiobook support, online holistic well-being platform subscription and more.
As part of the mentoring program, students meet with Cargill's senior executives, directors, and managers in different positions, gaining self-confidence and the opportunity to enrich themselves with different perspectives and various practices.
Murat Tarakçıoğlu, Cargill Foods META Managing Director & Chairman explains that the Women Leaders of the Future program is part of Cargill's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. He says “We are working to make gender equality a permanent value for a stronger future in the world and our country. With this vision, we are taking concrete steps both within Cargill and on a societal scale and are keenly aware of the important role that education plays when it comes to gender equality and human development.
“The Women Leaders of the Future Program is one of the finest examples of how we are striving to make gender equality a permanent value for a stronger tomorrow – both globally and in Türkiye. Our primary goal is to equip the students with the competencies that will enable them to lead their respective industries in the best possible way, helping them reach their full ambition and potential.”
Banu Taşkın, General Manager of TEV, stated that the Women Leaders of the Future Program is an example for many institutions. "As the Turkish Education Foundation, we underline that the empowerment of women begins with education. For 56 years, we have been diligently carrying out our work based on equal opportunities. The Women Leaders of the Future Program contributes to the personal and professional development of future women leaders through its multifaceted support to our students. We express our gratitude to our valuable education partner, Cargill, who illuminates the future of young women and provides equal participation opportunities in life on behalf of our students."
Buse Avcı, who is currently interning at Cargill and is part of the Women Leaders of the Future Program, adds “I am very happy with Cargill’s vision for women leaders. There are 10 opportunities in life, we take advantage of five of them, and one of them takes us very far. I consider myself very lucky to have experienced first-hand such an influential opportunity on new generations. I will proudly say this in every period of my life. I hope that the scope of all these initiatives will expand further and reach more young people.”
Cargill, which has won six awards, two local and four international, with the Women Leaders of the Future Program, is aware of the importance of education in achieving human development and becomes a supportive force in the educational journeys of successful students from primary school to university. It provides support to various schools in Bursa, Balıkesir, İzmit, and Sakarya where it operates, including equipment assistance, maintenance and repairs, and environmental improvements.
About Cargill in Türkiye
Cargill, which started its activities in Türkiye in the 1960s, operates in the food, bioindustrial and animal nutrition sectors. In addition to its headquarters in Istanbul, Türkiye which opened in 1992, it provides services with a total of 670 employees in its offices in Adana and Ankara, and production facilities in Bursa, Balıkesir, Kocaeli and Sakarya. With the addition of the Middle East and North Africa in 2014 and Sub-Saharan Africa in 2018, Turkey became the administrative center of the region, which includes the Middle East, Türkiye and Africa (META). Cargill Türkiye, which continues to work with a focus on sustainability in order to provide the world's nutritional needs in a safe, responsible and sustainable manner, develops innovative products in line with consumer trends and expectations in its four state of the art production facilities.
For more information, you can visit www.cargill.com.tr and https://www.facebook.com/CargillTurkey/
About Cargill
Cargill’s 155,000 employees across 70 countries work relentlessly to achieve our purpose of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. Every day, we connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients, and people and animals with the food they need to thrive. We combine 156 years of experience with new technologies and insights to serve as a trusted partner for food, agriculture, financial and industrial customers in more than 125 countries. Side-by-side, we are building a stronger, sustainable future for agriculture. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.
About Turkish Foundation (TEV)
The Turkish Education Foundation (TEV) was founded on May 4, 1967, by 205 Turkish intellectuals under the leadership of the late Vehbi Koç, who were dedicated to education. TEV supports pioneering young individuals with limited financial means, providing them with scholarship support that will contribute to Türkiye and humanity, as well as supporting the education system they will be nurtured in. Since its establishment, TEV has provided approximately 270,000 domestic and 2,000 international scholarships. In addition to supporting education by establishing 31 educational facilities, TEV took over İnanç High School in 2001, which was established to provide necessary education at the high school level for highly successful and high-potential students in Türkiye. The school continues its educational activities under the name Turkish Education Foundation İnanç Türkeş Private High School (TEVİTÖL). By opening girls' student dormitories in Izmir, Trabzon, and Ankara, TEV has expanded its scope of activities within the Turkish Education Foundation Student Dormitories Economic Enterprise.
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