JCU Enactus Team Goes to Silicon Valley
Last October, the JCU Enactus team travelled to Silicon Valley to represent John Cabot University at the Enactus World Cup, thanks to their victory in Italy’s National Enactus Competition held this past June.
Enactus is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring students to improve the world through entrepreneurial action. It is an experiential learning platform that constitutes a community of university students who work in teams on real projects that create social innovation and impact lives. In addition, the Enactus projects also advance the United Nation’s 17 sustainable Development Goals, which serve to better the future by addressing current global challenges such as poverty, clean energy, and gender equality.
Team members include: Laura Brogi (Business Administration, 2018), Costanza Cicero (Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, 2019), Laura de Francisci (Business Administration, Economics, 2018), Alessia Gozi (International Business, Entrepreneurship, 2020), Gaia Kouki (International Affairs, Marketing, 2019), Peter Ogden (International Business, Entrepreneurship, 2020), Giulia Francesca Primo (International Affairs, Psychology, 2018), Alessandra Vanoli (Marketing, 2018).
JCU Enactus team
The Enactus World Cup began on October 9th, and took place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, in San Jose, CA. Over the course of three days over 3,500 students, business and academic leaders from around the globe attended the event.
JCU’s project, “Our Common Thread”, was well received by a very diverse audience and panel of judges. JCU student, and team member Laura de Francisci explains, “Our aim is to help indigent people in our community pursue a job in tailoring through the refurbishing of second-hand clothes collected at JCU. The proceeds from the sales will be reinvested in skill-building courses for the beneficiaries. The Enactus World Cup helped us understand the full potential of our actions and made us feel part of a much larger and highly engaged community.”
Representatives from 36 countries marched proudly behind their waving flags, focusing on building bridges based on shared goals and embracing differences. The JCU students were proud to represent Italy, and its renowned textile tradition. As an added bonus, the project was also given the Junior Ambassador of Trade Prize awarded by the World Trade Center Association Foundation.
In Enactus Italy representatives Marta Bertolai and Francesca Chiesa’s words, “Attending the Enactus World Cup showed us the full potential of Enactus. We came back with the belief that when students come together with a vision, they can truly have a significant impact on our society.”
Says Professor Silvia Pulino, Team advisor and Director of the JCU Institute for Entrepreneurship, “We are grateful to Allison Szeliga, a visiting student from Rutgers University and President of Rutgers Enactus, who encouraged us to start the first Enactus team at JCU. Also, we would never have been able to develop our project and participate to the World Cup without the generous support from Enactus Italy and sponsor KPMG.”
JCU’s Enactus team’s long journey started in Rome and passed through Milan and Trento, before reaching Silicon Valley. “We are happy, thrilled and humbled by this incredible experience and the path that we have undertaken,” says Laura. “Enactus is more than a global non-profit organization, it is a worldwide family working for the sustainability and advancement of the future.”
