Cargill Launches "60 Leaders for the Future" Program

Cargill, in collaboration with Türk Eğitim Vakfı (TEV), launches "60 Leaders for the Future" program, aiming to provide scholarships, internships, mentorship, project competitions, workshops, factory visits and educational activities with Cargill leaders to more than 60 female students. Within the program scope, 66 students received scholarship support. Cargill, which operates in food, biotech and animal nutrition sectors in Turkey, launched this program in its 60th year in Turkey. Murat Tarakçıoğlu, Chairman and CEO of Cargill Food Middle East, Turkey and Africa, said, "As Cargill, we believe that women play an important role in global economic development as workers, entrepreneurs, farmers, educators and students. We prioritize gender equality not only within our company but also in our society."

The program, prepared with a holistic approach, goes beyond providing scholarships to students, aiming to prepare them for their post-graduation careers. Of the 66 students participating in the program, 48 are studying engineering, 10 veterinary medicine, and 8 law. In addition to financial support, the goal is to invest in and support students' education, making them more visible in Turkey's food industry and increasing diversity.

Cargill commits to achieving gender equality in leadership positions by 2030. Within this framework, it is conducting important work to improve processes for hiring women, providing development opportunities, promoting and supporting them. Working to make gender equality a reality in our lives, Cargill supports its gender equality commitment in the supply chains and communities it is part of through programs such as 60 Leaders for the Future. The proportion of female executives on Cargill Turkey's Executive Board is at 33 percent. The company aims to increase the number of female leaders further and raise this ratio to 50 percent.   Tarakçıoğlu said, "We believe that inclusive societies create value. We are committed to making every effort necessary for gender equality to become a reality in our lives. Our efforts sometimes take the form of achieving gender equality in our management boards, and sometimes providing education and work opportunities for women to be in the forefront in food, agriculture and nutrition fields. We are taking concrete steps to build a culture where people can succeed. We believe that the students participating in this program will shed light on Turkey's future."

Yıldız Günay, General Director of Türk Eğitim Vakfı, expressed the foundation's vision for the program focused on training tomorrow's female leaders: "As one of Turkey's most established foundations serving for 54 years, our main goal is to provide scholarships to successful students with limited opportunities and ensure equal opportunity in education." Stating that Türk Eğitim Vakfı provides scholarships to an average of 7,000 students per year and increased this number to 7,500 during the pandemic period, Günay said, "65 percent of our total donors are women.

With support from institutions and especially individual female donors, the scholarships we provide to female students have increased from 35 percent to 55 percent over 20 years. Among the important collaborations we currently conduct in the field, female students selected for the "60 Leaders for the Future" program launched by Cargill, one of Turkey's established industrial companies, were selected from among our TEV scholarship students. Our female scholarship holders participating in the program will benefit from opportunities such as mentorship, on-site training and participation in R&D projects, gaining professional skills and planting the seeds of their future success. Especially during the pandemic, the household chores and care burden of our girls continuing their studies from home increased further, while their socialization opportunities diminished. Education is their only chance, their only opportunity, their only hope for equal participation in life. In this sense, we are extremely pleased to serve as a bridge with Cargill in the name of Gender Equality Goals" Günay stated. Cargill, which started its operations in the food sector 60 years ago in Turkey, has diversified through new investments made each year, new technologies brought and R&D work, offering its broad portfolio of more than 100 innovative products to the service of different sectors in both food and animal nutrition and biotech areas. It has 4 factories, 3 offices and 670 employees throughout Turkey. Through programs such as 60 Leaders for the Future, Cargill has worked for 60 years to benefit society in Turkey, create employment, increase access to nutritious food and collaborate with the community.