Unlocking club doors: Enactus UCalgary empowering social change through entrepreneurship

By Dana ELRufaei, March 23 2025—

At the heart of the University of Calgary’s business and entrepreneurship scene is Enactus UCalgary, a registered Students’ Union club dedicated to driving social change through entrepreneurial action. As a chapter of the national Enactus Canada, an organization that champions the missions of “empowering an entrepreneurial mindset to turn innovative ideas into real actions that drive social change,” the club offers students a platform to make tangible impacts in their community. With multiple projects addressing issues from financial literacy to eco-friendly business practices, Enactus UCalgary tailors its initiatives to meet local needs, providing pro-bono consulting, business education, and mentorship to underrepresented groups.

A club with a purpose

What sets Enactus apart from other student organizations is its focus on social entrepreneurship—leveraging business principles to create meaningful change. According to co-president Juliana Los Banos, this was a key factor that drew her to the club.

“As a business student, there was always a large emphasis on joining clubs so it was really nice to find a club that would help me hone in on my leadership skills but also allow me to leverage the skills and knowledge I have to help different underserved groups in our community,” Los Banos she explained in an interview with the Gauntlet. .

Her journey in Enactus began as a student mentor for the Empower project, where she supported an immigrant woman in developing her business skills. She later took on the role of Empower Project Director, expanding the initiative internationally to the Dominican Republic during her term before becoming co-president in her final year.

Leading such a large and diverse club, however, comes with challenges. Coordinating engagement, communication, and events for a team spread across multiple projects requires careful delegation. Juliana credits the club’s project directors for playing a crucial role in keeping everything running smoothly.

Despite these challenges, the impact of Enactus UCalgary speaks for itself. In the past year alone: five businesses received support from them in implementing sustainable practices, 44 immigrant women were trained in starting their own businesses, and over 90 high school students participated in their financial literacy workshops.

“With over 1000 volunteer hours dedicated to helping the community, we are a strong group of individuals who are passionate about making a difference. The impact we continue to make each year will always be my favourite part about being in Enactus,” shared Juliana.

Beyond its community impact, Enactus also provides its members with valuable professional experience. The club competes annually in Enactus Canada’s regional and national competitions, where teams pitch their projects to industry professionals. Juliana recalls presenting the Empower project at the 2023 Western Regionals Exposition, where Enactus UCalgary placed third in the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge. This year, she led the club’s delegation in Edmonton alongside co-president Isabelle Jinon, marking a highlight of her university career.

Empowering immigrant women

One of Enactus UCalgary’s standout initiatives is Empower, a project that helps immigrant and refugee women overcome barriers and develop the skills needed to start their own businesses. Crystal Kisakye, Project Director of Empower, was drawn to the program due to her personal connection to the challenges immigrant women face.

“My family immigrated from Uganda when I was eight years old, and I remember watching as my mother tried to build her own business. Watching all the challenges she went through made me want to help her in any way I could. With Empower, I feel like I am doing just that: I am helping women who were in my mom’s position accomplish their dreams,” she shared.

Crystal’s role involves outreach to newcomer organizations in Calgary, recruiting mentors, securing sponsors, and coordinating 11-week business training sessions. The program covers essential topics like finance, risk management, marketing, and business permits—all tailored to the Canadian business landscape.

The biggest challenges faced by immigrant women in entrepreneurship according to Crystal are access to funding, networking opportunities, and resources. Empower addresses these barriers through: a pitch competition, where the top participants receive up to $1,500 in funding, workshops featuring industry professionals, including CEOs, business lawyers, and city officials with an opportunity to network with them, and an extensive post-program resource list to support participants beyond the initial training.

Empower’s success has also been recognized at a larger scale—it placed first at the regional competition last year and went on to secure second place nationally, highlighting the project’s effectiveness and the dedication of its team. The project’s success is evident even beyond Calgary—Empower recently launched in Colombia, reaching 90 participants at two universities. Beyond just helping immigrant women, Crystal sees Empower as a lesson in the power of social entrepreneurship.

“I used to think social entrepreneurship was just starting a business with a good cause, but now I see it as a way to create real, lasting impact. Working with immigrant women showed me how powerful it is when people have the right support and opportunities. By helping these amazing women, I’ve learned that real impact happens when you believe in people and give them the tools to believe in themselves.”

Pro-bono consulting with Telera

While Empower focuses on entrepreneurial education, Telera is dedicated to helping local businesses, social enterprises, and nonprofits thrive through pro-bono consulting.

Matthew Levorson, Telera’s Project Director, describes his role as overseeing everything from student recruitment to developing client partnerships. Like many members, his passion for the project came from personal experience.

“I worked as a project delegate with Telera in previous years, and seeing the tangible impact we made on local businesses motivated me to take on a leadership role and expand the project,” he said.

Telera selects its partners through direct outreach, using word of mouth and often cold-emailing nonprofits and small businesses to offer free consulting services. One of the club’s most impactful collaborations has been with Impact Society, a local non-profit that Telera has supported for multiple years now.

“In my first year, I worked closely with their CEO to develop an international expansion playbook—essentially a guide for launching their program in new regions and foreign markets,” Matthew shared.

For student consultants, Telera offers real-world experience working with clients, but it also presents challenges. Completing tasks never encountered before and meeting client expectations can be daunting. To support students, Matthew and his co-project director Ahad Bhaidani, provide guidance by clearing up communication issues with points of contact with partner organizations and consulting with them about their vision throughout the project cycle.

Beyond consulting, he sees Telera as an invaluable learning experience that builds leadership skills and an understanding of social impact beyond the classroom.

Looking ahead

With additional projects like Greenbiz, which helps small businesses adopt sustainable practices, PossABILITY, which promotes financial literacy among high school students, and Inclusion Powers Entrepreneurship (IPE), which supports neurodiverse individuals in entrepreneurship, Enactus UCalgary continues to expand its reach and evolve its initiatives.

The club’s dedication to hands-on social impact sets it apart as a unique space for students to develop entrepreneurial skills while making a tangible difference. Juliana, Crystal, and Matthew all emphasize one key takeaway: Enactus is about action. Whether it’s helping immigrant women build businesses, guiding nonprofits through consulting, or pitching projects at national competitions, Enactus UCalgary empowers its members to turn ideas into impact. Interested students can join Enactus through the SU Club Hub and keep up with their events on Instagram.