The School of Business congratulates Enactus UFV for their amazing work as they move forward with the Regional Enactus competition! Watch their videos, created by a professional videographer/video editor, highlighting their accomplishments and social impact.
Oak and Earth for the Scotiabank Climate Action Challenge
BBLP for the CWB Financial Education Challenge
Fraser Valley AgroConnect for the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge
The Oak & Earth candle business launched in 2020 is a wellness brand that focuses on sustainability, celebrating Indigenous culture, and promoting Indigenous social programs through building business-community partnerships and profit shares. The Oak & Earth business model is built on meaningful partnerships and growth. It has launched an official partnership with the Fraser River Indigenous Society or FRIS – a non-profit organization in Maple Ridge that promotes Indigenous culture and provides social programs in the Lower Mainland. 50% of Oak & Earth’s profits are invested in FRIS, while the remaining 50% are reinvested into the business. Since December 2020, the business has sold a total of 334 candles, invested $1,511.61 in FRIS, diverted 367.4 lbs of CO2 emissions, and diverted 33.4 lbs of cardboard waste. Oak and Earth directly address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) including goal #13 (climate change), #10 (reduced inequality), and #12 responsible for production and consumption.
In 2019, Enactus UFV launched the Big Brain Literacy Program, or BBLP to promote financial literacy to a wider group of individuals across Canada and in other parts of the world. BBLP has created interactive financial literacy workshops targeting high school students in BC. Through this workshop, students learn about positive spending and creating a budget. Since its launch, BBLP has educated over 512 high school students across BC and has delivered our workshops to a total of 692 international students including 19 students in 2021. The project’s third target demographic is Canadian Indigenous youth. In September 2022, BBLP has been invited to present our workshop to 120 Indigenous youth at the Seabird Island Band Youth Entrepreneurship Initiative, a conference to increase awareness of foundational finance and management skills.
In April 2022, Enactus UFV hopes to launch its third project, Fraser Valley AgroConnect – a free web-based interactive platform that will support farmers in the Lower Mainland. Agricultural support and initiatives in Canada are growing, but as resources for farmers increase, so too does the time required to navigate various websites for grant information, applications, and government support. With this project, Enactus UFV hopes to alleviate the burden of research for farmers by aggregating existing resources offered by governments and others. Second, to support farmers with social media marketing advice and other operational needs, the project will provide additional tools, advice, training, and expertise in business management. Third, it will connect farmers with eager student workers looking to support and learn more about the agriculture industry. This project received a grant for $5,750 through the UFV Strategic Initiative Fund, as well as $5,000 in Samsung technology through the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge.