Name: Enactus
Purpose: To emulate the ideas of social entrepreneurship and sustainable development in community focused projects across the Rio Grande Valley.
President: Luis Velazquez
Vice President: Ramiro Quintero
Secretary: Alexis Muniz
Treasurer: Alyssa Gonzalez
Fundraising Director: Joceline Quintero
Marketing Director: Adolfo Lopez
Human Resource Director: Eduardo Mercado
Fundraising Director-Elect: Jose Saenz
Adviser: Management Lecturer I Maria Leonard
Activities: Vida Nueva is a stand-alone independent business started by Enactus for the women of Proyecto Desarrollo Humano in Peñitas. It is a textile manufacturing business that creates bags and other products for conferences and other events, with a total of $20,000 in revenue to date. Looking to continue in expanding the women’s business operations, Enactus partnered with Bilingual Education Student Organization (BESO) to carry out English and computer literacy classes to help them with interpersonal client relationships and accounting. Thirty-five women are attending these classes to date. The end goal of the project is to allow the women of Peñitas to eventually run the business independently.
Enactus also hosts robotics/entrepreneurship summer camps which have expanded to include negotiation skills. Themes include sustainable smart farming and a “Shark Tank”-inspired investor/negotiation game. The camps teach high school students from IDEA Public schools and have generated $5,000 in its second consecutive year.
The organization has a vocational/technology school fair for high school students of Peñitas, which is aimed at promoting the diversity of available educational opportunities for students. The first fair hosted representatives from six institutions, with 15 high school students in attendance. Enactus plans to have this as a regularly scheduled event and expand to a larger audience.
Enactus plans to collaborate with the Mexican Consulate to teach financial literacy to families from impoverished areas of Brooks, Starr, Cameron and Hidalgo counties. If implemented, the organization can potentially earn up to $20,000 over the course of 14 weeks, while teaching low-income families how to balance budgets, maintain good credit and make sound investments.
Finally, the club is planning future projects such as a biking community on campus and across the Valley to promote healthy living, as well as preparing for the third annual Cansgiving Food Drive event to help provide families in need of a Thanksgiving dinner with a full turkey meal.
Awards: Finalist in the 2017 Enactus National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, third place nationally in the 2017 Enactus Women Empowerment Topic Competition, 2016 and 2017 Enactus Regional Champions and 2016 Enactus Rookies of the Year.
Meetings: 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Thursdays in ECOBE 118.
Membership requirements: No fees. Active membership status gained through points system based on participation and involvement.
For more information, email: Velazquez at luis.velazquez01@utrgv.edu, Quintero at quinteroramiro8@gmail.com and Leonard at maria.leonard@utrgv.edu.
—Compiled by Lesley Robles
