Hi Maria Vittoria! Congratulations on your acceptance in the Enactus team! Can you tell us a bit about Enactus?
Thank you! First of all, Enactus is not a charity as most people think, but it’s a society that believes in empowering people, teaching them skills that will make them independent and successful individuals. In the past few years we have developed many projects, such as Difference:Enabled, which helps people with autism to enhance their Curriculum Vitae by aiding them in the process of finding jobs and work experience. Another interesting project is Project En, which is based in Nigeria and aims to reduce unemployment rates by creating a sustainable business that involves the production and distribution of books to improve reading skills.
What is your favorite project?
Well, before becoming part of the Commercial Team I had actually applied for a role within a new project that is going to start very soon and it’s about empowering women that have been victims of Eastern European human-trafficking. I’ve been volunteering in the past few years, with children, but I believe that this particular project can be extremely rewarding — it really does change people’s lives in a very radical way.
What is your role within Enactus?
I’m part of the Commercial Team, so our goal is, through marketing activities, to raise funds to invest in our projects and make them grow. For example in our last meeting we went through a lot of brainstorming — we really need to come up with new ideas to raise money. One idea we came up with was to build a tutoring program comprised of third year students who, as a result of achieving a first in their previous year, can become mentors in that subject for first year students. Our main source of funds right now is Jailbreak, a project that seeks to raise money through a challenge for students: getting the furthest away from Lancaster without spending money, but raising it. It’s a very fun challenge and last year we raised almost £8500, with a couple of students reaching France and Italy!
I’ve heard the application process is a very hard and competitive one…what are the main steps to become part of Enactus?
Yes, it is very true, it’s competitive and the committee is very demanding. They want to make sure you will be a committed team member, because it’s about a promise you are making to the people you help in the projects, so it’s about maintaining that promise and improving their lives. The first step of the application process is taking part in an event that is similar to an assessment center, with activities that make you interact with other people, engage in conversations with them etc. Then you have to answer written questions about your motivations and past experiences, which results in something similar to a personal statement. At the end, you have to work on a case study in small groups and come up with innovative ideas and strategies to solve the issues presented. We were about 40 people and more or less 20 passed the ‘test’. For example, I had applied for a project, but I was then assigned to the Commercial Team, which is even better for me, as it’s extremely related to my studies in business!
I know about Enactus because I was part of a project last year, but many people do not know what it is. How do you think one could increase awareness about it?
Well, Enactus is quite a big organization in the United Kingdom and it’s presence is seen in the most prominent British universities, however you are right, I have personally encountered many people who have heard about it, but did not know what it did and how it helped people. I think a good strategy would be to spread awareness through word of mouth, as Enacuts is a very big society made up of individuals who are passionate about their projects. Many people think it’s a charity, but it’s not and it’s so much more than that, so we would have to find a way to change that and make people be able to distinguish between a charity and the entrepreneurial nature of Enactus and its projects.
Some people say being part of Enactus can be a life-changing experience — how so?
I think the reason behind such a statement is that you see the results of all the effort you put into these projects, and it is rewarding to be confronted with people being thankful to you, because you have truly changed their lives in a positive way. All of your efforts in projects are transformed and developed into something else, into the empowerment of people, who you know will be able to continue and improve also without your help, because you have taught them the skills needed to survive. Every project is like a child, you have to support it until it is ready to be self-sufficient in the real world.