Stamps Scholar Spotlight: Colleen O'Connor '19

My Stamps project focuses on promoting female empowerment through entrepreneurship in South America and East Asia, specifically in Peru and China. I was inspired to pursue this project after speaking with countless young, entrepreneurial female stall owners in Cusco, Peru's and Beijing, China's artisan craft markets and knock-off markets. When asked why they chose to work in these markets, I was surprised to hear many women in both Beijing and Cusco reply, "this is the only way I can be my own boss" and "I feel stuck." Thus, the common sentiment I found served as the catalyst for my project. Over the next two years, I will carry out additional on-the-ground research in Beijing and Cusco, and travel to other South American and East Asian cities and countries to best situate my findings on a global scale. This research will be completed over the next year in the hopes to find a way to somehow promote female entrepreneurship and innovation during the second year of my project.

More from Colleen.