Arianna Monrose, a senior at Liberty High School in Poinciana, already calls herself an entrepreneur.

She's the founder of Layers of Love, which makes and sells ready-to-eat cheesecakes in a jar. She says it’s all thanks to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Florida.

  • Boys and Girls Club students shadowed Tupperware Brands executives
  • Tupperware says partnership important to promote female empowerment

“One summer my mom forced me out of the house and she said, 'you can't stay here this summer,' so she decided to send me to the Boys and Girls Club,” Monrose said. “Five and half years later it’s the best decision ever.”

Arianna doesn’t pass up any opportunities to learn. In fact, she spent a day shadowing Tupperware Brands’ executives.

“Product line has changed but what hasn't changed is the focus on women,” said Rick Goings, the CEO of Tupperware Brands.

During her time there, they highlighted a returning female scholar, Dr. Sharmistha Banerjee from India, as part of their Global Links partnership with Rollins College.

“What we’re learning is to connect with people and with communities and take our business community out to the community where it can be practiced,” said Dr. Banerjee.

Goings said these partnerships help create synergy in the community and help promote the empowerment of women.

“We think we’re, as a company, the template for what the future is going to look like,” he added. “More women in seats of power who are influencing the path for more women after them.”

Arianna hopes all of these experiences help her land a spot at Harvard, where she wants to study marketing.

“From the moment I walked in, just to see a numerous amounts of women who just greeted me, and not just women but women of color, just embodying each other,” she explained. “And it was just an amazing experience to realize that this is something that is possible for me.”

One day she wants to come back home to work for the Boys and Girls Clubs that offered her so much growing up.

Arianna will represent Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida in a state competition to become Youth of the Year in early April.