Enactus George Brown dazzled in the 2022 Enactus Canada Regional Exposition by finishing in the top three for all four competitions held during the event, which concluded on March 12. 

Enactus is an international nonprofit student organization that focuses on engaging students in leadership, innovation and entrepreneurial endeavours that offer solutions to environmental, social and economic issues.  

They currently operate across 36 countries, and run programs across 1730 campuses with about 72,000 student members. 

Enactus Regionals 2022, which began on March 7, featured a total of four competitions including an impromptu entrepreneurship pitch competition.   

Three of GBC’s ongoing projects secured top three positions in three of those competitions, while the team also came second in the impromptu TD Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition. 

GBC’s Enactus chapter has now qualified to participate in the national Enactus competition that will be occurring in May of this year, whereas, Enactus World Cup 2022 is scheduled for the end of October in Puerto Rico. 

The idea that won the squad the impromptu pitch competition was named “Project Acorn.” 

As the project was conceived during the competition, it is still in its very early planning stages, said Esther Tan, vice president of operations at GBC Enactus. 

“Project Acorn is dedicated to empowering Indigenous women with entrepreneurial know-how. In the pre-launch stage, we will be looking for sponsors and partners to recruit participants from the Indigenous communities,” Tan said. 

Sandra Adderley-Melbourne, current president of Enactus at George Brown, and Esther Tan were the two members that developed and pitched Project Acorn at the competition.  

Tan added that they plan on reaching out to Native Women’s Association of Canada to propose a collaboration, seeking their help in reaching out to Indigenous women living on reserves. 

Enactus hopes to develop workshops that will cover topics such as business model canvas, funding, operations, marketing and more.   

“In the third phase of the proposed project, Acorn plans on offering Indigenous women who complete our workshops opportunities to pitch new or existing business ideas and compete for funding,” Tan said. 

The Bean, which is an ongoing project of GBC Enactus, consisted of creating a soap made with recycled, coffee ground waste with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Bean came third in the Scotiabank Climate Action Challenge category of the competition. 

A total of 32 teams from universities and colleges across Canada participated in this category. 

According to Adderley-Melbourne, the idea of the Bean Soap was developed by former members Saerom Joy Jo and Illia Simochko. 

Adderley-Melbourne noted that the soap entered the market on February 23 this year and can be purchased at the GW General Store located in the Distillery District in Toronto. 

Currently, the plan is to use the revenue generated from sales of the Bean Soap to reinvest in developing the project, she added.  

“The team members working on The Bean Project also have the option of claiming ownership of the project by taking it out of Enactus,” she elaborated. 

Getting acquired by a local coffee shop is also a viable option, she added. 

To learn more about The Bean Project, click here. 

Youth Going Forward (YGF), another ongoing GBC Enactus project, secured third place and a cash prize of $500in the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge. 

A total of 39 teams from universities and colleges around Canada competed in this category. The project also won the RBC Accelerator program this year and won $3000 in prize money. 

YGF is an initiative that offers free educational content and workshops on entrepreneurship that anyone can join. 

YGF invites GBC professors, TED Talks speakers and other external mentors to deliver workshops focusing on key skills, resources and information that can be helpful in launching a business.  

The initiative also creates opportunities for participants to network. Individuals who complete YGF workshops can receive certificates that are shareable virtually. 

About 400 students have participated in YGF workshops between May 2021 and January 2022.  

YGF collaborates with startGBC, the college’s entrepreneurship hub. Information about upcoming YGF workshops can be found on their LinkedIn page.  

Tenacity, another ongoing project, came third in CWB Financial Education Challenge category in the regional competition.  A total of 32 teams from universities and colleges around Canada competed in this category. 

Tenacity offers education and workshops on financial literacy. Their workshops cover topics such as investing, paying off debts, saving money, OSAP, insurance, and taxes among others. 

Adderley-Melbourne said that “Saving & Budgeting” and “Fighting Fraud 101” have been two of their most popular workshops. 

For more information on Tenacity, visit this page. GBC students who are interested in joining any of the projects run by GBC Enactus can visit their website.