On March 1, 2018, four University of the Fraser Valley students and their faculty advisor traveled to Calgary, Alberta to take part in the Enactus Western Canada Regional Exposition. The students represented UFV at the exposition which featured schools from UBC all the way to U of S in Saskatoon. Enactus is a community of entrepreneurial leaders who see business as a way to address social issues. Each year, Enactus teams from schools across the region gather to showcase the projects that they have been working on and compete in four distinct competitions for a chance to earn cash to support their project. The four competitions are centered around Financial Literacy, Youth Empowerment, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainability, each presenting a unique set of challenges for students to address.
Competing against some well-established teams from much larger institutions, the UFV team did not shy away from their underdog status. Since forming in January, the students displayed an abundance of drive, passion, and business acumen to prepare their presentation for the panel of judges. Their business, coined “Project Media Garden”, seeks to support small business in the Fraser Valley by providing budget media and web services while empowering our community’s youth to learn valuable media and business skills. After arriving at the hotel, the UFV team endured a tense 24 hours as they polished their presentation for the judges. When the time came, the students laid down their best run through yet, wowing the judges with the quality of their presentation considering the short time that they had been a team.
The team hopes to build on their inaugural showing at the regional exposition and are excited to compete again next year with a full year of development under their belt for Project Media Garden. Across Canada, Enactus projects run by students are changing people’s lives. Enactus UFV is no different, we seek to generate positive social change in our community through the actions of our members. If you or someone you know are passionate about how students can use business principles to create social change in their community, Enactus UFV is looking for new members to fill a variety of roles. Contact Paul Okano, pauljamesokano@gmail.com, for more information.
