On Sept. 16, Enactus UFV held a virtual information session for students to learn about their club, their projects, and how they can get involved. This week I was able to sit down with club president Addy Schnider to chat about her involvement with Enactus UFV. Schnider joined the club in 2019, drawn in by the unique, hands-on experience the club provides.
This UFV club is one small branch of Enactus, which is an international non-profit organization that exists across 37 countries and over 1,700 university programs. Through entrepreneurial action, Enactus creates projects that help advance the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
“It offers resources and empowers students to create projects that positively impact the world,” Schnider said.
The UFV club only formed in 2017, and they currently have two projects in the works. Their first project is the Oak & Earth Candle Project in which they produce, market, and sell candles. They are currently partnered with the Fraser River Indigenous Society (FRIS), and they share the profits they make from the candles with them. Schnider said they have designed the candles to represent Indigenous culture and language.
Enactus UFV also created the Big Brain Literacy Project (BBLP) in 2019. Through free, personalized workshops, BBLP helps educate high school students and international students about financial literacy, the Canadian banking system, and bank scams. They have even partnered with UFV International to implement BBLP into their regular programming for international students.
As is the case for many clubs and programs, COVID-19 has put a wrench in these projects, but it hasn’t stopped Enactus from working. Although they cannot provide in-person BBLP workshops at the moment, Enactus is creating a website with BBLP videos for students. Schnider hopes that teachers from across Canada will access these videos and share them in their classes.
COVID-19 has also not stopped Enactus from meeting virtually and encouraging UFV students to get involved. Although their entrepreneurial focus attracts business students, they have students from a variety of programs such as criminology and arts — everyone is welcome.
Schnider’s favourite part of Enactus is that it’s completely student-led. Having created these projects from the ground up, they can take ownership of what they’ve accomplished. “I’m just so proud of everything that we do,” she said.
To learn more about Enactus UFV, you can watch a recording of the Sept. 16 information session on Instagram. They can also be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, through their webpage, or at enactusufv@ufv.ca.
Danaye studies English and procrastination at UFV and is very passionate about the Oxford comma. She spends her days walking to campus from the free parking zones, writing novels she'll never finish, and pretending to know how to pronounce abominable. Once she graduates, she plans to adopt a cat.
