But that’s not all! In my time monitoring rooms and helping with event setup, I was given the opportunity to work alongside a talented volunteer team from UT Dallas, the hosts of Expo. Naturally, I ended up striking conversations with many such students, and was graciously invited by Nikhil for lunch right before my flight! I’d like to think that this goes to show not only how beneficial candid conversations can be, but also how vast the Enactus network truly is. If there is anything you get out of this article, it is to put yourself out there and portray your genuine self – the connections will form gradually, especially as a result of the size of the Enactus movement.

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.  

The Enactus model uses experiential education to simultaneously develop entrepreneurial leadership and affect positive social and environmental transformation.

We strongly believe this model is well suited to supporting under-represented students because it develops soft skills, builds students’ network and networking skills, and empowers students to advocate for themselves professionally and personally. 

Enactus United States partners with teams at over 200 college campuses, including at diverse-serving educational institutions – 16 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and 21 Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). Additionally, more than half of Enactus students are women, more than half identify as people of color, and more than 33% are the first in their families to go to college.