Cargill's Women Leaders of Tomorrow Program Doubles Its Impact in Its Fourth Year

Cargill's award-winning Tomorrow's Women Leaders Program, launched in 2021 in collaboration with the Turkish Education Foundation (TEV) to cultivate future women leaders, is entering its fourth year with double its capacity.

The program was launched based on the understanding that education is crucial for women's equal participation in their communities and their contribution to human development. Cargill , in line with the United Nations (UN) 2030 Sustainable Development Goals for gender equality and women's empowerment, works to make gender equality a lasting value for stronger tomorrows, both globally and in Turkey.

2023 university students have already participated in the program, whose 63 registration has recently opened. The program, which is supported by the Cargill global fund in the new term and will double the number of students in the next three years, will thus support nearly 2027 female leadership candidates of tomorrow by 600.

Since 2021, nearly 16 students from 30 different universities in 200 provinces across Turkey have benefited from the scholarship. According to TEV Impact Analysis; Scholars who graduate from the program are 10 times more likely to receive higher education. The rate of program graduates who take the first step towards becoming the female leader of tomorrow by joining working life is 60 percent.

Tomorrow's Women Leaders Program aims to provide students with the competencies they need for leadership in business life by offering them various opportunities such as scholarships, internships, mentoring, on-site training in production facilities, book support, and online holistic health platform subscription.

Students come together with Cargill's senior executives, directors and managers in different positions within the scope of mentoring, gain self-confidence and have the opportunity to improve themselves with different perspectives and practices.

Murat Tarakçıoğlu , Chairman and CEO of Cargill Food Turkey, Middle East and Africa, stated that the program is part of Cargill’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategy, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Tarakçıoğlu said, “We are working to make gender equality a lasting value for a stronger future both globally and in Turkey. With this vision, we are taking concrete steps both at Cargill and on a societal scale, and we are aware of the important role education plays when it comes to gender equality and human development. The Tomorrow’s Women Leaders Program is one of the best examples of this effort. Our primary goal is to equip our fellows with the competencies that will enable them to lead their sectors in the best possible way, helping them to unleash their potential and passion.”

TEV General Manager Banu Taşkın also stated that the Tomorrow's Women Leaders Program serves as an example for many institutions. Taşkın said, “As the Turkish Education Foundation, we emphasize that the empowerment of women begins primarily with education, and for 56 years we have diligently continued our work based on equal opportunities. The Tomorrow's Women Leaders Program contributes to the personal and professional development of future women leaders through the multifaceted support it provides to our students. We express our gratitude to our valuable education partner Cargill, who illuminates the future of young women, on behalf of our students to whom they offer equal opportunities in life.”

Buse Avcı, who took part in the program and is currently interning at Cargill, said: “Cargill's vision for women leaders makes me very happy. We come across 10 opportunities in life, we take advantage of five of these opportunities and one of them takes us far. I consider myself very lucky as someone who has experienced firsthand such an impactful opportunity on new generations. I will say this with pride at every stage of my life. "I hope the scope of all these initiatives will expand further and reach more young people," he said.

Cargill, which has received a total of six awards, four of which are international, with its Women Leaders of Tomorrow Program to date, is aware of the importance of education in ensuring human development and is the strength that supports successful students in their educational journeys, from primary school to university. It provides support, including equipment aid, maintenance-repair and environmental improvements, to the different schools in Bursa, Balıkesir, Izmit and Sakarya where it operates.

About Cargill in Turkey

Cargill, which started its operations in Turkey in the 1960s, operates in the food, bioindustrial and animal nutrition sectors. In addition to its Turkey head office opened in Istanbul in 1992, it provides services with a total of 670 employees in 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 that includes the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META). Continuing its work with a focus on sustainability in order to provide the world's nutritional needs in a safe and responsible manner, Cargill Turkey develops innovations in line with consumer trends and creates efficiency with innovative approaches in its four factories.

About Cargill

Cargill helps the world food system work for you. It connects farmers with markets, customers with supplies, and families with daily necessities, from the food they eat to the floors they walk on. Our more than 155.000 employees worldwide are innovating to empower our stakeholders and communities as we work to feed the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way.

From feed that reduces methane emissions to waste-based renewable fuels, the possibilities are endless. But our values ​​remain the same. We put people first. We strive for greater achievement. We do the right thing. For 157 years, we have met the needs of our neighbors and the planet we call home, and we will continue to do so for generations to come. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center .

About TEV

Turkish Education Foundation (TEV) was founded on May 4, 1967 by 205 Turkish intellectuals devoted to education under the leadership of the late Vehbi Koç. TEV, which supports pioneering young people who will contribute to Turkey and humanity and the education system in which they will grow, by providing scholarship support to successful students with limited financial means, has provided approximately 270 thousand domestic and 2 thousand international scholarships since its establishment. Supporting its contributions to education by building 31 educational facilities, the Turkish Education Foundation also took over İnanç High School, which was established in 2001 to provide the education they need to high-achieving and high-potential students in Turkey at the high school level, and the school gave education under the name of Turkish Education Foundation İnanç Türkeş Private High School (TEVİTÖL). continues its activities. It expanded its field of activity within the Turkish Education Foundation Student Dormitories Economic Enterprise by opening girls' dormitories in Izmir, Trabzon and Ankara.

Source: HORECA Trend and Cargill