Andy Stride, President of Enactus Nottingham, managed to fit in an interview with Phoebe whilst trying on a tuxedo this week! Here’s what he had to say:
What is Enactus?
Enactus is global student run organisation that develops social enterprises in order to deliver postive impact within communities across the world. Using entrepreneurial action, students harness the power of business to transform lives.
Could you give us an example of a project?
Sure, so Aquor Water Technology is a prime example of a project that Enactus Nottingham created in 2013 and is currently expanding across rural areas in Cameroon. By utilising bios and filtration technology, a team of Nottingham students has created a way to provide clean, safe and affordable drinking water to those who need it most.
After receiving funding from Cascade and GSK, Aquor has partnered with engineers to develop the technology and run four expeditions to Cameroon to implement the project. Aquor was invited to the G20 summit held in Brisbane in 2014 to present its innovative way of taking the global issue of poor water quality, as well as presenting at the Green Gown Awards this year. This is one example of the 19 projects we currently run across the UK and the rest of the world.
What do you want to have achieved by the time you leave Enactus Nottingham?
I want to have built upon the great work of the previous President and grow the portfolio of projects and the size of our team. So far we have grown from 12 projects to 19 and increased our team by 30%, providing more students with the opportunity to get involved.
Another objective is to create a sustainable revenue stream so that we can continue to create new projects every year to increase the impact that Enactus Nottingham has.
I also want to be able to provide Enactus students with graduate job interviews and fast tracks to reward the hard work that they carry out throughout their time with us. For example, we have several sponsor companies who specifically fast track Enactus students.