Enactus Workshops in Seenigama

Enactus is a community of student, academic and business leaders committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better more suitable world. They define themselves as En-Act-Us; “entrepreneurial—having the perspective to see an opportunity and the talent to create value from that opportunity; action—the willingness to do something and the commitment to see it through even when the outcome is not guaranteed; us—a group of people who see themselves connected in some important way; individuals that are part of a greater whole.”

The Royal Holloway wing of Enactus (Enactus RHUL) participated in a social entrepreneurship workshop with the Foundation of Goodness earlier this month. Ringing with endorsement for their mission “to see possibilities where others do not, empower individuals to reach their full potential and together contribute towards an advancing world”, Sophia Palmstedt and Rebecca Marocco, the President and Vice-President respectively of Enactus RHUL made a lasting impression during their time with us.

Over the course of 6 days, Sophia and Rebecca worked with a group of 12 ladies to develop a novel business venture. Through local research, they had discovered that jack fruit was plentiful across the region, and was a nutritious and low cost ingredient that could be easily accessed. Therefore the workshops centered around preparing jackfruit chutney and releasing it to the market. This included a variety of workshops that covered topics from leadership skills, teamwork and motivation to designing labels for the product that held true meaning, conveying the unique story of the ladies who prepared it.

Through hands on practical activities that were organized as fun games, they taught valuable lessons about greed and extortion, as well as demonstrating how team work always lead to a better result than working alone. The most valuable lesson taken away from this was that socially conscious and ethical entrepreneurship ultimately benefits everyone involved.

The ladies attending the workshop also learnt about a formula that demonstrated a monthly equation for projected profits and insight on how to market their goods by distributing free samples or through smart packaging techniques such as small portions packaged for a meal on-the-go.

With the help of the Foundation of Goodness, Enactus will continue to monitor the group of ladies to ensure their continued progress in addition to providing the start-up cost for this venture. All in all, the workshop was a huge success and the progress made by the ladies is to be seen in the coming months. The Foundation wishes a heartfelt thank you to Rebecca, Sophia and Enactus RHUL for this wonderful opportunity.

“For too long, information, opportunities, and resources have been constraints, they need to be the bridges.”  ― Sharad Vivek Sagar

30th January 2014