“There is a difference between making money for oneself and creating wealth for others. Nation building and welfare of people are the corner stones on which the Tata family give shape to their dreams.” Quoted from ‘The Creation of Wealth’, a book with the Tata story. After two days of intensive working with Tata Trust team members, Rupa gave me this book yesterday. A very interesting story that started in 1868.
580,000 employees
Started as a trading company, the Tata Group nowadays is a conglomerate of more than 100 operating companies in engineering, communications and information technology, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. Tata companies employ over 581,470 people worldwide in more than 80 countries.
Profit for community development
From the beginning the Tata family returned their profits for 66% into community development. In 1919, the first Trust was established and profit from Tata companies was used for improving the quality of life of the underserved. Today, Tata focuses on activities in health, education, natural resource management and improving rural livelihoods.
Workshop
On August 5 Ellen, Ronald and I shared the story about the WHY, the HOW and the WHAT of Women on Wings with the team members of Tata Trusts. With this team of 10 people, responsible for the community programs of the Tata companies, we did a brainstorm about common areas in work. The Trusts focus on activities in the eastern states of India. We also work in Jharkhand and Assam, two of their main areas. Our 1-million-jobs-for-women-in-rural-India fits in their ambition to improve the lives of 100 million people by 2025.
Join hands
At the end of the workshop we decided to join hands and work as partners. Yesterday was the kick-off. Together with the people of Tata Trusts we developed a rough roadmap for the coming years. The journey together will be exciting, probably sometimes bumpy but definitely with a lot of energy and commitment. Looking forward!
Maria van der Heijden
