By Tracy Waldman, Corporate Programs Lead
Above: Cargill Global Scholars from Brazil outside of the Cargill Amsterdam office during the 5-day leadership seminar.
When you think about the future of jobs, do you think about tech? You’d be right, but what if I told you that nearly 60,000 jobs in agriculture are added to the United States economy alone each year? By 2050, our world population will have grown by 2.4 billion people, increasing global trade competition as well as international demand for natural resources, food security and the people who run these industries.
Above: The IIE team examines a sample Lego helicopter model that the scholars had to build for a teams for an activity. Most days during the seminar ran from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
At IIE, we’re proud to work with corporations like Cargill to manage leadership and professional development programs that prepare the next generation for ethical leadership with a global outlook. I have had the pleasure of leading IIE’s Corporate Programs team to help to deliver programs like Cargill Global Scholars and GE Foundation Scholar-Leaders Program on behalf of organizations seeking to cultivate young leaders in their major market locations. Since 2013, IIE has managed the Global Scholars Program on behalf of Cargill, a multinational company providing food, agriculture, financial and industrial products and services to the world. To date, the program has connected more than 300 high-achieving undergraduates with scholarships, mentorships, networking, and leadership development to last a lifetime.
Above: IIE team members from around the world work with Cargill and each other to execute the logistics behind the annual Cargill Global Leadership Seminar. IIE team members Nina Hasenstein (IIE NYC), Fenty Agtiffantono (IIEF Jakarta), Cesar Maldonado (IIE Latin America), and Wallace Ng (IIE Hong Kong) stopped for a group photo at the Cargill office in Amsterdam.
This year, seven IIE team members took 67 Cargill Global Scholars from Brazil, China, India, Russia, Indonesia and the U.S. to Amsterdam for the 2017 Cargill Global Leadership Seminar, a 5-day seminar jam-packed from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. with program alumni panels, guest speakers, a tour of Cargill’s Animal Nutrition Innovation Center, case study presentations and much more. From ensuring that the students obtained their visas beforehand to holding nightly debriefs with the students to coordinating logistics across IIE’s offices in New York, Mexico City, Moscow, New Delhi, and Hong Kong, as well as IIEF in Jakarta, the seminar was a labor of love, and our unwavering belief in the power of international education.
Above: IIE team members Nina Hasenstein and Tracy Waldman (IIE NYC) wear Batik skirts that Fenty Agtiffantono from IIEF Jakarta brought as a gift from Indonesia.
While one highlight of the week in Amsterdam was listening to these promising young people propose solutions on environmental sustainability in agriculture during their case study presentations, witnessing the scholars broaden their global mindsets by interacting with each other was the most impactful aspect of the seminar. Gathering in small groups throughout the week to share their experiences of what life is like as a university student in their countries, they were fascinated to hear each other’s stories and have a chance to ask questions about their distinct cultures. The meaningful bonds the scholars formed helped them establish a far-reaching peer network that they can stay connected to well into the future.
For more information on the Cargill Global Scholars Program, visit www.cargillglobalscholars.com.
The future of education, jobs, and leadership is global – the IIE Center for Academic Mobility Research and Impact projects that by 2025, there will be 8 million globally-mobile students in higher education. Learn more about our work with corporations here, and if you are interested in building a scholarship program for young people, please contact Nichole Johnson, IIE Business Development.