Dr. Sharmistha Banerjee, a Professor of Business at the University of Calcutta, has been selected as the first Indian scholar for the Global Links: Empowering Women through Education & Opportunity program, launching in India. The public-private partnership is an initiative between the US Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, Tupperware Brands and Rollins College.

The innovative program is designed to train female Indian professors in social entrepreneurship. The program utilizes the train-the-trainer model with the goal of creating a pool of students who will support and mentor women in the community in starting their own businesses.

“The Global Links program provides an opportunity for government, civil society, academia and the private sector to collaborate to enhance and expand opportunities for women entrepreneurs. By working across sectors, we can give future generations of Indian women entrepreneurs the opportunity to become leaders in business and throughout Indian society,” said Catherine Russell, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.

As the scholar in residence, Dr. Banerjee will participate in curriculum at Rollins College in the Business and Social Entrepreneurship department and the Crummer Graduate School of Business. The curriculum includes coursework on human centered design thinking, entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprise development. Subsequently, the professor will participate in an externship at Tupperware Brands, where she will gain practical experience, learn the fundamentals of direct selling, market analysis and management.

“The Global Links program brings to life our global mission to empower women, enable their financial independence and change their lives through opportunity, support and relationships – we call this the Chain of Confidence. Through the ‘learn and return’ model we hope to inspire the development of a new generation of female entrepreneurs in India who are focused on social impact,” said Rick Goings, Tupperware Brands Chairman and CEO.

“Rollins College is committed to educating students for global citizenship and responsible leadership. Rollins’ participation in the Global Links program creates more opportunities to bring diverse international perspectives to our campus and to apply theory to practice in addressing critical social and economical issues in the world,” said Dr. Craig McAllaster, Acting President of Rollins College.

Dr. Banerjee distinguished herself amongst a competitive applicant pool of established female Indian business and economic professors from universities across India. Previously, she was a Fulbright Scholar at the Bloomsburg University College of Business and a fellow at the Indian University Grants Commission for a project that empowered women through microfinance.

“I am honored to be a part of the program. The chance to gain contemporary business knowledge from leading academia in the United States and integrate it with the technical skills through the externship will enrich my experience and improve my ability to mentor. The exposure to the entrepreneurial culture in the United States and teaching techniques from business professors will enable me to develop insights about how my training may be integrated with the socio-economic milieu of the Indian youth,” said Dr. Banerjee.

The inaugural Global Links scholar Dr. Amel Abed Mohammed Ali from the Department of Industrial Management at Babylon University’s College of Administration & Economics, was from Iraq. Since the inception of the program, she has continued to train her students in social entrepreneurship through her business curriculum. Twenty-five of those students have gone on to mentor and assist 75 women in creating business plans and starting their own businesses in very difficult circumstances. Dr. Amel worked with her university to open the school’s first career center, and one of the first career centers in the country, based on the model she was trained to develop at Crummer Graduate School of Business.

In 2014, there are plans to scale the Global Links program in India. The goal is to establish additional academic and corporate partners in India and the United States. The program, focused on empowering women’s access to the market in India, hopes to utilize the current political will to catalyze a group of highly qualified scholars who can share their knowledge with women across the country.

Currently, India is ranked in the bottom quartile in global gender indexes on a host of indicators, including women’s social and economic empowerment and scores zero for labor gender parity. The program’s objectives are to equip Indian women with the skills they need to overcome barriers and increase the number of women-owned businesses and women’s ability to participate in the economy at all levels.

Read more about the Global Links program on the Facebook page.

About Tupperware Brands Corporation

Tupperware Brands Corporation is the leading global marketer of innovative, premium products across multiple brands utilizing a relationship-based selling method through an independent sales force of 2.9 million. Product brands and categories include design-centric preparation, storage and serving solutions for the kitchen and home through the Tupperware brand and beauty and personal care products through the Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller Cosmetics, NaturCare, Nutrimetics and Nuvo brands.

About the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues

Through the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, the U.S. Department of State works to promote stability, peace, and development by empowering women politically, socially, and economically around the world. The Office is organized upon four pillars: 1) promoting the full engagement of women in the political and economic spheres; 2) mitigating the impact of violence against women and girls; 3) addressing underlying socio-economic problems, including women’s access to health and education, food security, and global problems such as climate change; and 4) ensuring that women are integrated as equal participants in reconciliation, post-conflict reconstruction and development in areas affected by conflict. For further information visit: www.state.gov/s/gwi

About Rollins College

Founded in 1885, Rollins College is Florida’s oldest recognized college, and is consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of “America's best colleges.” The Rollins MBA at the Crummer Graduate School of Business is ranked a top MBA program by Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes and U.S. News & World Report. It is among a select group of business schools in the nation that have been accredited at the graduate level and is distinguished by its faculty and the academic and business successes of its graduates. Rollins offers MBA degrees in three different formats for both working professionals and full-time students and is the first school in Florida to offer an accredited Executive Doctorate in Business Administration. The school also houses Centers of Excellence in Leadership, Advanced Entrepreneurship, Career Development, Management & Executive Education and Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership. For more information, visit www.rollins.edu. “Like” Rollins on Facebook and follow on Twitter @RollinsCollege.