OCNews

Articles tagged "Enactus"

Enactus OC team members celebrate on stage at Nationals.
Enactus OC makes massive impact at Canadian Nationals

May 10, 2023

Enactus Okanagan College’s innovative social enterprise the Unusually Good Food Company placed second out of over 70 college and university teams in Canada at the Enactus Canada Nationals last week in Montreal, while the group was also honoured with several team and individual awards. President MacKenna Lenarcic, who has now completed her Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the School of Business at OC, was named the HSBC Women Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year, receiving a $5,000 award to go towards her educational and l...

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Unu
Enactus OC’s Unusually Good Food Co. expands to 19 cities

April 14, 2023

Student entrepreneurs from Okanagan College (OC) are taking their fight against food waste and food insecurity to more businesses throughout Western Canada, as their social enterprise the Unusually Good Food Co. is expanding. With the goal of donating one-million servings of apple chips to children, the Unusually Good Food Co. has formed a partnership with Loblaw Companies Limited, expanding to 19 cities in Western Canada with its line of apple juice. “This is so exciting for our social enterprise to be able to partner with such a well-know...

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Enactus OC at the World Cup
Enactus Okanagan College represents Canada on the world stage, finishes in top four

November 3, 2022

Students from Okanagan College represented Canada on the global stage this week, presenting their social enterprise business at a prestigious international competition and finishing in the final four of 32 teams. Enactus OC, comprised of students from the Okanagan College School of Business, won the national title in September and earned the right to wear the maple leaf and represent Canada at the Enactus World Cup in Puerto Rico. The final round of competition wrapped up on Nov. 2. “We are so proud of this team and of all Okanagan College ...

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Enactus Oct 2022
Okanagan Enactus team off to Worlds

October 21, 2022

After claiming the National championship, the Enactus Okanagan College team will travel to Enactus World Cup 2022 in Puerto Rico later this month. For Penticton-based student Jon Talastas, the opportunity brings a chance to showcase a locally-grown idea on the world stage. From Oct. 30 – Nov. 2, OC’s Enactus team will compete against national champions from 30 other countries on projects that use entrepreneurship and innovation to solve the world’s biggest challenges.   Enactus Okanagan College’s award-winning project – Unusually Good – was...

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Danielle Walker
OC alum honoured for contributions to inclusion, democracy and reconciliation

October 17, 2022

Sorting through her mail on a recent trip to the mailbox, Okanagan College (OC) alum Danielle Walker received a surprise - the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Inclusion, Democracy and Reconciliation. “The award was completely out of the blue,” says Walker. “I knew I had been nominated, but the timing was such a surprise. I just took it in for a minute at the mailbox and cried.” The award recognizes post-secondary students who make outstanding contributions in support of inclusion, democracy and reconciliation and is the culmination of Walke...

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Enactus OC October 2022
Okanagan Enactus team takes top spot at Nationals

October 5, 2022

This past weekend, Enactus Okanagan College (OC) travelled to Toronto, Ontario to compete in the Enactus Canada National Exposition final round. They became the first team from Western Canada to be crowned the National champion out of more than 60 teams across Canada. Their award-winning home-grown project is providing nutritious food to people locally and multiple countries around the world. Their win will now see the students travel abroad to share their inspiring idea and compete at the next level. Unusually Good Food Company was inspir...

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Enactus 2022
Enactus Okanagan College tops the field, sets sights on national championships

May 27, 2022

Okanagan College students will once again be competing for the Canadian title after qualifying for the Enactus National Exposition with a first-place finish in their league during the semi-final round. Enactus teams at post-secondary institutions across Canada competed virtually earlier this month, and Okanagan College scooped up top position in the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge, and runner-up in the Scotiabank Climate Action Challenge for the Unusually Good Food Co. project. It also included national runner-up in Shaw and RBC accelerators...

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Enactus OC March 2022
EnactusOC heading to nationals after dominating in multiple categories

March 18, 2022

Enactus Okanagan College students have their sights set on nationals, after making the podium in four competitions at the Enactus Regional Exposition – including three first-place finishes. They performed so well, that EnactusOC was recognized with an Excellence in Innovation Award, provided when students demonstrate their commitment to tackling some of Canada’s biggest challenges. “We have come a long way this year,” explains Danielle Walker, EnactusOC President. “Our team has tripled in size, we have scaled and rebranded projects, and we ...

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Enactus: Danielle Walker, Maya Samaddar, Aidan McLane
Enactus OC awarded new funding to cultivate student entrepreneurs

February 1, 2022

Enactus Okanagan College has received their largest grant to date, enabling the volunteer team to launch and expand more student-led projects that create community and environmental impact. The Economic Trust of the Southern Interior (ETSI-BC) is investing in Enactus social entrepreneurs with a $25,000 grant. Laurel Douglas, CEO of ETSI-BC, says her organization’s mission is to support economic development projects that will have long-lasting and measurable benefits in the region. “We are excited to see how this grant helps Enactus grow, t...

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OC Enactus students
OC Enactus wows on the national stage with pitch competition win and top-four team finish

May 21, 2021

Okanagan College Enactus students won first place in the brand-new Intuit Sustainability Pitch Competition category at the Enactus Canada National Exposition, making them the first post-secondary team to win this award and marking them as the team to beat in years ahead. Enactus OC was recognized as one of the top four teams in the country after an impressive finish at the national finals on the strength of three projects: FruitSnaps, CanSave and Rising. The winning pitch and an impressive second runner-up finish for the FruitSnaps project ...

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FruitSnaps Regional team 2021
OC business students take trio of first-place finishes at Enactus Western Canada Regionals

March 30, 2021

Okanagan College business students enjoyed a fruitful victory at the Enactus Western Canada Regionals, earning three first-place finishes and ensuring their ticket to the National Competition in May. The Regional competition took place last week in a virtual format with teams from a multitude of post-secondary institutions submitting their student-created and student-run initiatives that seek to positively impact communities in a social, economic or environmental way. The award-winning OC Enactus initiative FruitSnaps was entered – and won...

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Business Student Danielle Walker
Enactus OC’s CANsave program celebrates remarkable reach, new financial literacy resources for youth with diverse needs

March 9, 2021

Okanagan College’s Enactus team is marking a memorable milestone this month, having mentored more than 50,000 Canadian children through its CANsave financial literacy program – and the program’s latest focus may be its most inspiring yet. Developed entirely by Okanagan College students, CANsave teaches youth important financial literacy skills like saving for tomorrow, differences between good and bad debt, and the importance of saving to help others in need.  CANsave launched in 2016 with a focus on teaching students in Grades 1 and 2 fi...

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OC Kelowna Aerial
OC Enactus helps young females navigate the future

January 15, 2021

Okanagan College’s nationally recognized Enactus team is kicking off the new year with new community-initiatives, including a program preparing local young females to navigate their future with confidence, positive self-image and the know-how to tackle the world of job hunting. The project, Ivy Collective, is a free skills development program that supports females aged 15-18 through a series of one-hour online training workshops. Topics include public speaking, job application skills and confidence-building strategies. The first workshop o...

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Masked elementary student with a hat on picks an apple in an orchard
Enactus’ FruitSnaps transitions into social enterprise

December 8, 2020

The award-winning Enactus initiative FruitSnaps is now running as a social enterprise after the student-run team recently launched apple juice boxes. The direct result of an abundant number of apples over the fall semester, the five-litre boxes of fresh apple juice are now available locally and online for purchase. All proceeds go back into the program and help to keep it sustainable. OC alumni, staff and community members were among the first people who showed up to help the Enactus team pick the approximately 13,000 pounds of apples that ...

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Enactus OC FruitSnaps Team
OC business students adapt FruitSnaps project to feed those in need during pandemic

June 23, 2020

When the pandemic hit, they adapted. When greater need appeared, they collaborated. When an unthinkable tragedy struck, they supported each other through it. And when the chance came to share their idea with the country, they rose to the challenge. It all started in the fall of 2018, when Okanagan College business student Abby Lagerquist noticed apples still on the trees at the end of harvest season. After inquiring with the orchard owners, she discovered that these apples were imperfect and would be left on the trees to rot (sadly, the fat...

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Enactus GreenScreen team
Families and community at the heart of Enactus GreenScreen technology initiative

April 9, 2020

GreenScreen is bigger than just a technology recycling program. It’s about people and helping build connections. An initiative launched by Okanagan College’s Enactus team in 2019, the project works to repurpose technology such as phones, laptops and tablets, saving them from the landfill and connecting them with families in need. The team consists of students Isaac Hossmann, Emily Pilon, Rachel Wehrmann and Maya Samaddar, and aided by College professor Devin Rubadeau. Working alongside Kelowna Cell Repair, Columbia Bottle Depot and Go ReCel...

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