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Rollins Trustee and former CEO of Tupperware Brands Rick Goings ’12H and alumna Susan Goings ’78 have pledged $500,000 on behalf of the Rick and Susan Goings Foundation to provide support for the Global Links program, a growing initiative that makes a difference in the lives of women around the world.

The idea for Global Links was born in 2011 when Rick Goings traveled to Baghdad on assignment with the Department of Defense to determine if sustainable business opportunities for women were possible, either by established businesses or entrepreneurial endeavors. After numerous meetings with financial institutions, government officials, and even military generals, Goings observed that neither option was viable, especially with respect to entrepreneurship since no one was qualified to teach. Sitting with the Dean of the College of Science for Women at the University of Baghdad, he personally committed to sponsor a female professor of business or economics to travel to the United States and study entrepreneurship at the graduate level.

From there, the Global Links partnership was born with Rollins’ Crummer Graduate School of Business along with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues. This cross-cultural exchange program is built on the pillars of women’s economic empowerment and social change, providing in-depth business training in social entrepreneurship and practical business skills to high-achieving female scholars in developing and post-conflict countries.

The program’s unique multi-part curriculum includes the scholar joining the Crummer Graduate School of Business to participate in rigorous training and coursework focused on entrepreneurship and sustainable business practices. They then complete a hands-on externship, followed by a return to their home country, where they work with students to lead economic empowerment projects with small, female-owned businesses. Past and current program participants hail from Iraq, India, and Brazil.

The passion that the Goings share for educating changemakers is closely aligned with the College’s mission to educate our students for global citizenship and responsible leadership. Global Links brings a fresh perspective to the classroom and strengthens our students’ understanding of entrepreneurship around the world today.

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