SMART Program

To the many significant honors and awards she has accrued in her career, Uma Lele recently added one from the Dyson School, the Clifton R. Wharton Jr. Emerging Markets Award.

It was an incredible experience as we had the opportunity to learn more about the environment in which small enterprises operate in South Africa and learned more about the South African society and culture.

Francesca Opoku, the owner of Solution Oasis, is the embodiment of this and a living example of what is possible when women are empowered, supported, and connected.

The SMART program was one of the most enriching experiences I’ve had at Cornell thus far. It was extremely rewarding to be able to use direct concepts from our Dyson classes and apply it to a real-world small business, especially in a developing economy.

I had the incredible opportunity to participate in Cornell’s Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Team (SMART) as a consultant for Dirkosh Crunch, a small agri-business, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

By the last night of the trip, there was a general sentiment of deep-seated appreciation for the opportunity to be exposed to the realities of agribusiness development in Uganda.

The Dyson School’s Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Team program brings student expertise to entrepreneurs in developing economies.