How The Enactus SDG Goals Are Transforming Communities Around The World
In this article, I will share my conversation with Karen Chavana, the treasurer and the point of contact for their Financial Literacy project in the Rio Grande Valley. In today’s article, we will look at how Enactus’s SDG goals are transforming communities around the world and how Karen is using these goals to better her community.
JOB: Good afternoon, Karen! Thank you for agreeing to talk about your experiences with Enactus regarding its SDG goals and their effects on the community. Can you kick us off by introducing yourself to the audience? What is your name and what is your position within your Enactus chapter?
KAREN: Of course! My name is Karen Chavana and I am the Treasurer for Enactus UTRGV and also serve as the point of contact for our Financial Literacy project.
JOB: Thank you Karen for that introduction! Moving on to the next question, what do you know about SDGs and why are they important?
KAREN: Great question! SDGs stand for Sustainable Development Goals and they’re basically 17 goals that were agreed upon by the United Nations as ways to achieve world peace and prosperity. Collectively the United Nations collectively tries to make the world a better place through the practice of these UN sustainable development goals.
JOB: Awesome, great answer. Knowing this, would you say that your involvement within Enactus has helped you better serve the SDGs?
KAREN: So, personally working as an Enactus officer within my chapter has definitely helped me become more sustainable which has also allowed me to achieve the UN Sustainable development goals. Being an officer has allowed me to become the point of contact for the financial literacy project which targets UN sustainable development goals number 4: Quality education. Our area is mostly known to dismiss and treat finances like a taboo given that our culture is predominantly Hispanic. Our culture is not exposed to financial literacy concepts, especially not in high school. When students reach college, being financially literate is much more of a challenge. Through our project we were able to teach college students about financial concepts such as mortgaging a house, building credit, loans, and much more.
JOB: Wow that was great, thank you so much for that insight, Karen. My last question to you is do you think that Enactus’s SDG goals are transforming communities around the world? If so, how?
KAREN: Yes. So, we are just one Enactus chapter amongst many, but we do impact the world through Enactus because there are just so many different Enactus chapters in the United States alone. I can confidently say that we are affecting our area even across the border as we influence students to become more financially literate. Most of these students have family members across the border, and so we’ve seen most of these students impart their knowledge across countries and within our community.
Interviewing Karen was very insightful and we hope that this article motivates each Enactus chapter around the globe to make the world a better place one SDG goal at a time.
