Two students received individual honours at the Enactus Canada National Exposition last week.
Emily Bland, president of Enactus Memorial, was named a 2016 Unilever Leader for a Bright Future. Angelise States, a vice-president for the group, received a Founder’s Bursary from the John Dobson Foundation.
Five students from across the country received Unilever Leader awards. They were selected for their vision, leadership, use of entrepreneurial action to improve the standard of living for others and ability to serve as role models and inspire others.
“It feels amazing!” said Ms. Bland, who is in her fourth year of the commerce program at Memorial’s Faculty of Business Administration. “There are so many amazing leaders within Enactus and to be recognized as one of the top five in the country–and the only female–is a very special feeling.”
‘Somewhat of a surprise’
The Founder’s Bursary recognizes and celebrates outstanding student leaders who have demonstrated superior leadership and team development skills.
“I am extremely excited to be named a recipient of the John Dobson Founder’s Bursary,” said Ms. States. “The award came as somewhat of a surprise but I’m overjoyed.”
Ms. States is in her third year of the commerce program.
“… it provides students like myself with the opportunity to have a tremendous impact on the world around them.”
Ms. Bland, 21, has been involved with Enactus Memorial for the past four years and is in her first term as president. She is the founder of an environmentally friendly, farm-focused project called AGreenCulture, has been a participant lead on the Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur, has travelled to Haiti for Project Stitch and to Rigolet, Labrador for Project SucSeed and has been on the national presentation team for three years.
World Cup-bound
Enactus Memorial won its ninth national title last week and will represent Canada at the Enactus World Cup in Toronto this September.
Ms. Bland says she feels lucky to lead this group of dedicated students.
“Our team has such a diverse group of skilled leaders [and] to be the president of the team is an honour,” she said. “However, it’s also a lot of pressure. Enactus is like a relay race: each executive team runs so far and passes it on to the next. There are over 20 executive teams that made Enactus Memorial what it is today and there is a sense of responsibility to make them proud.”
A life-changing experience
Ms. States, 20, has been volunteering with Enactus Memorial since her senior year of high school when she started working with Project Bottlepreneur. She was also project manager for the Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur for two years before becoming one of the team’s vice-presidents this year. She’s also been heavily involved with developing the team’s newest project, Project SucSeed, which was the focus of the national presentation that earned the Canadian championship.
This is her first year on the national presentation team.
“Being a member of Enactus Memorial has truly changed my life. I’ve had the opportunity to represent my team and university in competitions across the country and around the world. I’ve met so many interesting people and have made amazing friends,” said Ms. States. “The most amazing thing about Enactus Memorial is that it provides students like myself with the opportunity to have a tremendous impact on the world around them. I am incredibly honoured to be a part of that.”
Enactus is a student-run volunteer group, part of an international non-profit organization that mobilizes university and college students to develop outreach projects that improve the quality of life and standard of living of people in need through the application of business processes and models.
The Memorial team currently involves 82 undergraduate students from the faculties of arts, business, science and engineering. Together, they run 13 community projects.
