Enactus Saint Mary’s and SMU EC together online.
Each year Enactus teams from across the country compete in regional competitions to showcase the impact they've made over the past year, with top teams moving forward to compete at the national level of competition. With the cancellation of in-person competitions as a result of COVID-19, the Enactus regional competition moved forward online. The results were announced live on April 8, 2020.
Enactus Saint Mary's proved that their online pitches are just as strong as their in-person pitches, winning all four Enactus regional challenges—the most of any university in the country. They will now compete in all four topics, along with the overall Enactus presentation, at the virtual National Competition in May.
In late March, teams were asked to submit 5-minute videos showcasing the impact of their projects. Enactus Saint Mary's participated in all four regional topic challenges by submitting a separate video for each. Competitions included the CWB Financial Education Challenge, Scotiabank Climate Change Challenge, Scotiabank Youth Empowerment Challenge and the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge.
Enactus Saint Mary’s share the great news on their Instagram page, @enactus_smu.
Additionally, two of Saint Mary's student entrepreneurs have made it to the Enactus Student Entrepreneur National Competition — Nevell Provo (Smooth Meal Prep) and Mubdu Alali (Bloxo).
"I am extremely proud of the team and our two student entrepreneur winners. Not just for this showing but for how they have approached the current pandemic," said Michael Sanderson, the Director of the Saint Mary's University Entrepreneurship Centre. "In addition to this big win, they have pivoted Square Roots to a donation model to help our most vulnerable communities and have delivered over 10,000lbs of fruits and vegetables in the last two weeks!"
Enactus Saint Mary's is a student-led organization that uses entrepreneurial action to make positive change in the community. With over 100 students, Enactus Saint Mary's currently operates seven projects ranging from reducing plastic waste in the ocean to forming food-based social enterprises with refugees, to operating an employability training program for at-risk youth. Enactus Saint Mary's is proud to partner with the Saint Mary's University Entrepreneurship Centre to offer its programs.