International student organization Enactus has come to Vancouver Island; its first chapter on the island was formed at Camosun College’s Interurban campus last fall.
Enactus has chapters in 33 different countries and is affiliated with 1,064 campus programs. The Camosun chapter of Enactus aims to provide a space for entrepreneurship and innovation to assist students in making a positive social impact with projects of their choosing.
Enactus faculty advisor and Camosun Business instructor Brian Feltham says that while he helped get the ball rolling on Camosun’s Enactus chapter, it’s really the students who are spearheading the initiative.
“From a Camosun perspective, we just started this fall with our group, and myself and Coralee Czinkota are the faculty advisors, but really, this is a student-led initiative,” says Feltham. “So, we told people about it, and a bunch of students have joined. I think we’re somewhere in the vicinity now of 15 sort of really active members with some other people floating in and out.”
The Camosun Enactus team decided to work on a project that focuses on food sustainability. Acting president and second-year Marketing student Anuragh Shetty says that the team is currently working on a prototype for affordable food packages for students. Their goal is to have a pop-up booth to sell the kits by the end of February.
“So, I think the idea behind food packages was to give something of an alternative to a grocery store, a cheaper alternative with healthy ingredients, which you can make a complete recipe out of,” says Shetty. “The concept is that it would be a grocery package for a week, and it will include recipes that can be used with those ingredients. If you use those recipes, then everything inside the package gets used up. It’s healthy and also diverts waste from landfills.”
Feltham points out that Enactus isn’t just for Business students; he says that all Camosun students are welcome to join. He also adds that there are many important qualities he’s seen grow in the students who have joined so far, such as leadership, planning, and organizing skills.
“[Enactus] is not just meant for Business students; this is meant to be across the entire campus,” says Feltham. “So, there’s an opportunity for anyone in any school or faculty to take part. It just so happens that because we’re Business instructors, it kind of took off from there. But our goal was to grow it to all the other sorts of faculties as well.”
Shetty acknowledges the skills he and his team are learning through Enactus and adds that a project focusing on food sustainability builds a greater sense of community.
“I think effective listening and team building are one of the main skills that I think my team and I are learning,” says Shetty. “I think it builds a sense of empathy and community in our team because we’ve been reaching out to different people, we’ve been hearing stories of food insecurity… So focusing on development goals, in general, in our community gives us more of a reason to connect.”
Enactus chapters can enter their projects into a competition: Enactus is set to host regionals for qualifying Canadian branches in Calgary on March 14. Shetty believes that his team has what it takes to place in the event.
“To be honest, I’ve always believed that if you go higher, you tend to achieve it, at least a bit below, if not,” says Shetty. “So, yeah, I’m going to say that my team always has the potential to place in regionals.”