Capgemini Begins The Search for 25 Inspiring Female Leaders in the World of Rugby

• The search for 25 inspiring female leaders for the 2024/2025 Capgemini Women in Rugby Leadership Programme is now on
• The programme is creating a growing global network of female leaders and role models across the sport
• Scholars will have access to personalised coaching and training sessions via Capgemini’s internal University to help their professional development
• Seventy-three scholars have completed the programme since 2018

World Rugby has announced the launch of an open application process for the Capgemini Women in Rugby Leadership Programme, with 25 scholarships to be awarded on the road to Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

This week, World Rugby will begin the search to find 25 inspiring female leaders through the Capgemini Women in Rugby Leadership Programme which identifies and develops the next generation of female leaders. The programme enables them to fulfil their potential and drives gender equity across the game with the overall aim of increasing the number of women in key leadership positions within rugby.

Each year, 12 scholars are granted access to the best learning programmes from the Capgemini University with successful applicants matched with a mentor and eligible to apply for an additional discretionary grant of up to £5,000 to help aid their development. New for 2024, and to maximise the opportunities for trailblazers of the future in the countdown to Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, World Rugby will be seeking 25 leaders for 2025 so these scholars will be supported over a longer time period.

The bid to unearth the next generation of leaders will get underway on Thursday, 29 February when the application process for the next intake of scholars opens until 31 March. Applicants must be actively involved with their rugby union or regional association as a board member, member of staff or volunteer, have leadership aspirations and be able to demonstrate their professional development plan in their application. Any interested applicants can complete this application form, including a CV and a letter of endorsement from their union or regional association. Failure to submit a letter of endorsement will disqualify them from the process.

World Rugby Chief of Women’s Rugby Sally Horrox said: “As we embark on the journey towards Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, we’re thrilled to launch the search for the next wave of female leaders to be part of the Capgemini Women in Rugby Leadership Programme. This important initiative, in partnership with Capgemini, is set to empower and elevate 25 remarkable female leaders who will shape the future of the sport. By promoting the programme and the application process more widely, we are fostering inclusivity and accessibility to fantastic resources, mentorship, and educational opportunities. We’re paving the way for these trailblazers to realise their full potential, driving gender equity, and growing opportunities for women in key positions in rugby.”

Since the Women in Rugby Leadership Programme was launched in 2018, a total of 73 scholarships have been awarded to female leaders from across the world. As part of the programme, scholars are given access to a range of opportunities through the Capgemini University, including leadership coaching and training sessions and Connected Manager, a Harvard Business certified programme.

As the programme continues to go from strength to strength, the first Capgemini Women in Rugby Leadership Summit was also held in 2023 at the Campus Serge Kampf Les Fontaines in Paris. The two-day event gave scholars an opportunity to come together, share best practice and build a support network.

Anne Lebel, Chief Human Resources Officer at Capgemini and Group Executive Board Member, said: “We look forward to this next phase in our collaboration with World Rugby to support the development of female leaders. Through the Capgemini University, we are giving them the opportunity to build on their strengths and to keep growing. As a global services company people are at the heart of Capgemini’s capabilities, so we know how critical it is to support and nurture women’s leadership. We are proud to help empower female role models that can inspire other women and break biases.”

Zakia Kulabako, 2023 Women in Rugby Leadership Programme alumni, said: “Capgemini’s leadership programme has been the cornerstone of my professional growth in project management, guiding me through the dynamic landscape of challenges and opportunities with invaluable mentorship, robust skill-building and a culture of innovation. It’s not just about mastering methodologies; it’s about fostering leadership excellence, empowering me to navigate complexities, inspire teams and drive impactful results that redefine success in the project management arena.”

About World Rugby

World Rugby is an international federation and a global movement comprising more than 500 million fans and eight million players within 133 national member federations affiliated through six regional associations.

World Rugby’s purpose is to grow rugby by making it more relevant and accessible, with a vision of a global sport for all, true to its values. The driving force behind the sport’s significant growth has been World Rugby’s portfolio of major events, from the flagship men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups to HSBC SVNS, showcasing the Olympic version of the sport.

The financial success of the men’s Rugby World Cup enables World Rugby to invest record sums in the development and growth of the sport from the playground to the podium, ensuring that the sport is as accessible and enjoyable for as many people as possible. Between 2020-23, the international federation will invest more than £565 million in the sport, representing a 22 per cent uplift on the previous four-year business cycle.

https://www.world.rugby/vision

Indian Business 2020: The Growth of Indian Businesswomen

India is a male-dominated country. However, over the last couple of years, India has witnessed the continued rise of women entrepreneurs, which has played an enormous role in boosting the country’s overall economic growth. As a result of this, one question pops in everybody’s mind; how is this country accomplishing this incredible achievement? 

This article at Baazi King provides a detailed review of the various factors playing a vital part in India's rise of businesswomen. Consequently, you’ll better understand how the women in this country have embraced entrepreneurship on a small and medium scale, thereby becoming integral players in the economy’s growth. 

Better Access to Education 

For any society to succeed, its citizens need to be well educated. The Indian government realized this necessity and went ahead to put a government program focused on ensuring girls were educated. As a result of this investment, women got the opportunity to explore the domains of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology. Furthermore, women managed to learn about other fields, including entrepreneurship, international business, textiles, logistics, supply chain, to mention a few. The access to better education has consequently enabled them and to go after their entrepreneurial ambitions. 

Social Dynamics 

The social fabric in India has become more relaxed, which has led to a change in gender-defined expectations and responsibilities that are more individualistic and dynamic. It can be seen in the recent policies that have become more supportive of maternity and shared roles within the family setup. Thanks to these changes, women are now better placed to chase after their professional dreams and ambitions. 

Women empowerment has also compelled the increased opportunities for businesswomen to pursue careers towards improving the welfare of other women. The women entrepreneurs are taking it upon themselves to form startups looking to address the issues affecting women. This movement covers broader issues such as women’s health, hygiene, maternity, and mental health. 

Better Branding by Women Entrepreneur

Women boast innate marketing skills that allow them to better promote their products and services to prospective clients. They also have better skills in bringing out the positive aspects of their products, which helps them make more sales. All these tasks are possible because women are very passionate about anything, they set their hearts to do. 

Increased Access to Loans 

One of the significant challenges to the growth of women entrepreneurs in India was the lack of capital. This situation prevailed for a long time since a big part of India’s productive population has mostly been men. However, the trend is gradually changing, and it’s now easier for women to get credit to finance their entrepreneurial goals. 

It has been made possible by non-banking financial companies and banks in India to provide women access to different types of specialized loans plus other finance opportunities. Some of the advantages these financial institutions offer women include making terms of payment more liberal and flexible to favor women, not requiring collateral, and low-interest rate. 

Ability to Meet the Customer’s Needs

The success of businesswomen in India is also attributed to women’s need always to make the customer experience more appealing. Women can achieve the heights of success as now they’re more conscious than men about the needs of their customers. This simple, albeit important detail, allows women entrepreneurs to improve their client’s shopping experience. Because of this, they get to enjoy customer loyalty, which promotes the growth of their startups. 

Access to Mentorship 

Women in India nowadays have access to professional mentors who offer them guidance and nurturing as they pursue their career goals. All this is possible, thanks to the work environment nowadays being more supportive and increased international exposure. Moreover, there are networking and trade platforms where businesswomen interact with peers and other entrepreneurs to better their financial, social, and knowledge. From these dynamic international platforms, trade groups, and networking seminars, women entrepreneurs get to form a robust collaborative network that supersedes sectors and gender biases. 

Women Are Multitask Oriented 

Men usually struggle to handle more than one task at a time, and thereby miss some viable business opportunities due to this weakness. Nonetheless, it’s not something women need to worry about as they’re well capable of performing different tasks simultaneously and still deliver incredible results. This trait has played a vital role in especially allowing Indian women to even venture into business without fully compromising on their duty as parents. 

 Women Are Resourceful

In traditional Indian society, women were required to focus on raising the children while the men got involved in economic activities. However, the trends have changed in today’s society as women can still raise their kids while partaking in some form of business to improve their economic wellbeing. It’s possible due to the innate resourceful nature of women that enables them to utilize the available opportunities that can be capitalized to empower themselves financially and economically while in their homes. 

Increased Opportunities for Women 

The 21st century has seen more women in India easier access to the corporate world, thereby helping them advance their business and career goals. With these increased opportunities, qualified women can now work within the local or national level and at the international level. Subsequently, they get to specialize in their niche and opening up more doors. The combination of increased specialization in the area of interest and increased international exposure has been essential in guaranteeing women entrepreneurs’ success in India. 

Financial Independence 

Women in India are now enjoying a period of improved financial independence as they’re now making equal and, in some cases, more salaries than men. It has been made possible because a higher percentage of women nowadays have access to education and corporate opportunities. As a result, more women, especially the younger generation, enjoy financial freedom like never before and are in full control of their earnings, long term savings, purchases, and investment decisions. It has played a vital role in allowing them to succeed when they start their entrepreneurial journey. 

Conclusion   

Unlike in the past, women in India are now enjoying greater success as entrepreneurs, thanks to the aforementioned factors. Furthermore, their involvement in the country’s financial and economic welfare has been one of the reasons why India is one of the nations that has been recording high economic growth rates. India serves as a model for other countries, especially the developing ones, could learn from in a bid to push for greater economic prosperity.   

Indian Businesswoman Naina Parekh's Massager Backpack Appears On 'Good Morning America'

Founded by Mumbai-based businesswoman and innovator Naina Parekh, the world's first built-in massager backpack, EUME was featured on America's widely-viewed show 'Good Morning America'.

Irked at witnessing her 20-year-old son suffer back pain caused by carrying a heavy backpack everyday, Naina (44) teamed up with her partner Sanjay Parekh to build the world's first backpack with a built-in massager - EUME bags. The venture, launched in 2018, is backed by Daymon John, an American investor who also appears on the popular show Shark Tank.

[caption id="attachment_143113" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Naina Parekh, Founder, EUME Bags[/caption]

A worldwide patented brand, EUME Bags are made in India, manufactured in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra.

The product has four in-built massagers, two on the upper shoulder and two on the lower back. One button can operate all four massagers. The entire module runs on a power bank (one hour of massage consumes 1,000 mAh of power) with a dual-USB port, which can also charge other devices such as phones, tablets etc.

The bags come in 6 variants that offer unique features, like the 40 Litre backpack designed for students or the rugged backpack, enforced for trekkers and sports enthusiasts, to name a few.

"Sanjay and I are so incredibly excited that EUME backpacks made it to the massive platform of 'Good Morning America'. After 3 years of cutting-edge research and innovation, we are confident of our product creating a positive impact among the masses globally," says Naina.

In addition to positioning the product in the US market, Parekh hopes the product's appearance will inspire more Indian innovators, especially women, to go for their goals.

"Next on the goalpost is to take EUME bags to the Indian Army. Our Military personnel takes long, stressful journeys at the border to protect us. It'll be an honour if our bags could ease their job even a little bit," Naina says.

EUME Backpacks are currently available on EUME's website with some great deals. EUME bags can also be purchased from Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and in offline stores like Croma, Reliance Digital, and Mumbai T2 duty-free stores.

About EUME:

Founded by Sanjay Parekh and Naina Parekh, EUME is the world's first built in massager backpack that caters to the needs of evolving India. It has also recently been granted a patent from the US patenship office.

With a legacy of over 49 years, the brand is a venture of Avon Group, one of the leading umbrella manufacturers and Travel Trolley Bags manufacturers in Mumbai as well as umbrella and Bags suppliers in India.

Employing their expertise in superior quality products, extensive market knowledge, and customization as per evolving needs, the brand envisions to add value in the lives of their customers. Merging aesthetics with functionality, EUME aims to be both appealing and high on comfort and is set to be a game - changer in the travel gear segment.