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To date, Harrison Rand, who is CEO and president of HarrisonRand Advertising in Guttenberg, has led approximately 90 "Friends of India Missions," but this group leaving Oct. 30, is her largest to date.
The 23 participants hail from all over the Garden State and from various walks of life, spanning the gamut from lawyers to doctors to marketing professionals and those in entertainment.
According to Rand, all are dedicated leaders in their respective spheres committed to continuing and expanding initiatives promoting gender impact investing, and economic exchanges.
Rand has found -- after doing a trip that involved men in the past -- that she can make the greatest impact as a women’s delegation to "build linkages with our Indian sisters.”
And she's got some muscle behind her. The U.S. State Department and Department of Commerce, along with the Office of the Consul General of India, have provided access and exposure to their resources for each of the delegations, including one which was certified by the Department of Commerce.
Her group also works closely with Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces led by Fort Lee resident Jodi Dell Leblanc, the company's Vice President for Sales and Marketing International, who helps facilitate the program.
At the epicenter of these missions has been close involvement with Children’s Hope India, a children’s focused charity that Rand was first introduced to in 2000.
Rand said her journeys and exposure to the meaningful projects the group oversees on behalf of Indian women and children is what inspired her to plan these trips in the first place.
"People ask me, 'Why India?' and I reply, 'Because it's my destiny," she said. "But if you knew me, you'd know I normally don't talk that way."
She said over her many years in business she's often seen very competent women left out of the equation. This is her way of letting them in - and making a difference as a result.
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