William Sutter is co-President of the Social Innovation Project, a student run club focused on social entrepreneurship. From general members to executives, there are students who can relate to the work put into creating something new on campus. With entrepreneurship playing such a leading role in the Waterloo community, Her Campus is excited to see how this new club, and William himself, will contribute to the Laurier experience.
What is the Social Innovation Project?
The Social Innovation Project is a student-run organization on campus designed to empower students to create social enterprises. We’re still building the club, but we plan to achieve our mission through three pillars: a speaker-series of local/international social entrepreneurs, innovation labs on campus to introduce students to the basic concepts of social enterprise (mapping your social journey, lean business model canvases, social financing, etc.), and providing students with an easy-to-access network of funding and incubator opportunities. Haha, I’ve explained that so times this past year, but I never seem to get bored of it.
Why did you choose Laurier? How influential do you think the Waterloo community is and has been for your future and past experiences?
I say this to everyone – if I could choose again, I would pick Laurier in a heartbeat. I chose WLU because the student experience is unlike anywhere else. It’s a small school so it’s easy to build relationships with students and professors, and it’s relatively easy to get involved with clubs. But it’s really the Waterloo-Kitchener community that’s been the most influential to me. Because of the entrepreneurial culture here, I’ve been exposed to some world-class technology and gained valuable experience working for a startup.
What future plans do you and your team have for the Social Innovation Project?
Well, there is still a lot to be done. Our primary focus is making sure that SIP exists decades from now. That means strengthening the community partnerships we have already created, establishing best-practices/role expectations for the team, and continuing to find ways to bring a culture of social entrepreneurship to WLU. With a Toronto-based startup called Sojo, we’re hosting our first lab in February. I’m really stoked about that.
Would you rather be twice as smart or twice as happy?
I don’t want to get too deep on the Her Campus readers, but absolutely twice as smart. I think the idea of “always being happy” is a bit unrealistic. I’m not convinced that humans are designed to always be happy and never feel a bit bummed out. I think intelligence is associated with perspective – it’s not about what happens to you, it’s all about how you interpret and choose to react to those things. I hope that doesn’t sound too cynical or something.
Who inspires you?
So many people inspire me, especially my friends and family. But off the top of my head, I’d have to say a really good friend of mine, Kylie. She’s really brilliant, brave, and happens to be blind as well. She wasn’t always blind, so obviously there’s a huge learning curve involved in dealing with and accepting the disability. She’s studying health sciences at WLU Brantford, just wrote her MCATS, and is going to make a great cancer researcher one day – so yeah, totally kickass. The best piece of advice she has given me is when faced with a difficult situation or a roadblock in the way of achieving a goal, just tell yourself so f***ing what. I know that sounds a bit reckless, but it’s an important concept to grasp and can be applied to any situation.
What would your parents be surprised to learn about you?
Well, if I told you that, it wouldn’t be so much of a secret anymore.
You seem really passionate about adding value to the Arts student experience. Do you have any advice for Arts students building careers?
If you want something, you’ve got to go get it. Put yourself out there and surround yourself with people who motivate you. I may be a bit biased, but if you want to get that first ‘foot in the door’, take advantage of the startup ecosystem we have in KW. For so many reasons, interning for a tech startup has been tremendously beneficial to me, and I’ve also noticed that entrepreneurs are generally more willing to take a chance on an unlikely applicant (you just have to be able to prove why you’re awesome).
If you’re interested in finding out more about social entrepreneurship at Laurier, be sure to like their Facebook page, The Social Innovation Project!