Engineering grad advocating water access and sustainability through community-led projects, global insights and engineering-driven social impact
For Global Entrepreneurship Week, we’re spotlighting some incredible University of Waterloo entrepreneurs making a difference for humanity and our world.
Julia Baribeau (BASc ’23) is advancing her career with a unique twist on entrepreneurship as part of her journey in tackling environmental challenges. Rather than jumping into creating her own company, she’s working as an intrapreneur, bringing an entrepreneurial approach to her role within an existing organization.
Recently hired by Enviro-Stewards, a sustainability consulting firm founded by Bruce Taylor (BASc ’89), and its social venture project Safe Water Social Ventures, Baribeau is using her skills to address water access and environmental issues while building expertise that she hopes will one day help her improve Indigenous water sovereignty on Turtle Island.
Driven to make an impact, Baribeau enrolled in the University of Waterloo's mechatronics engineering program, attracted by its renowned co-op education. Through co-op, she gained diverse experience, from developing robotic platforms to working on web applications with Uber’s Advanced Technology Group.
During a work placement at a local electric motor company, Baribeau explored electrifying agricultural equipment for remote communities with her manager’s support. This experience sparked her interest in the social impact of technology, leading her to join GreenHouse, Waterloo’s social impact incubator. There, she learned to build a business model around the intellectual property developed in co-op, equipping her to turn innovative ideas into real-world solutions.
“As an engineering student, I always wanted to apply my technical skills to solving social and environmental problems, and GreenHouse really gave me the support I needed to start having an impact,” Baribeau says. “Through GreenHouse, I learned how to apply business skills and engineering to tackle social challenges, which helped me find my true calling. It was the first chance I had to use my technical skills — and soft skills — to help empower communities and create meaningful change.”
Her commitment to social change paid off when she won the GreenHouse Social Impact Showcase, securing award money that funded her immersive experience with Barefoot College in India, where she observed how the organization trains women from remote rural communities to become “Solar Mamas” — engineers who bring solar power back to their communities.
Seeing firsthand how practical skills empowered women, Baribeau envisioned applying similar principles in Canada, recognizing the unique water challenges Indigenous communities face due to colonial history, funding issues and environmental degradation. Her journey deepened through the Global Engagement Seminar, where she explored Indigenous water sovereignty and the importance of community empowerment.
At Enviro-Stewards, Baribeau has embraced an intrapreneurial approach, building on the organization’s success in food conservation, clean energy and water access through its consulting work in North America and its social enterprise Safe Water Social Ventures in Uganda and South Sudan. In Canada, her role focuses on utility assessments at large industrial facilities, identifying and addressing waste in water, energy and ingredients to improve efficiency and sustainability.
Safe Water Social Ventures empowers locals to create and maintain water solutions within their communities with their ‘train-the-trainer’ model. In Uganda, Baribeau worked with local communities to install biosand water filters, gaining experience in sustainable water solutions. These filters use gravel and sand layers to remove pathogens without electricity or chemicals, and a natural biofilm develops to help eliminate bacteria like those causing cholera. Lasting over 25 years with minimal upkeep, these filters offer a long-term, affordable solution for safe drinking water.
Baribeau helping with planning the construction of a water kiosk at a partnering orphanage in north Uganda. The water kiosk will allow community members to fill their own jerrycans with safe water for a small fee, and proceeds will go towards the operation of the orphanage.
Baribeau documented the installations, trained community members on maintenance and explored ventures like water kiosks to expand access and support local income, helping secure clean water for the community.
“Seeing the practicalities of running community-led projects has helped me build a foundation to tackle water issues in a sustainable and self-sufficient way. My role with Enviro-Stewards and Safe Water Social Ventures is teaching me skills to develop solutions that could one day help Indigenous communities,” she says. “It’s important to me to give back to the land and water I call home, and the most just and sustainable way to do that will be with Indigenous communities and leaders at the forefront.”
A Ugandan village where biosand filters are installed. From left: Helmi Ansari of Grosche (SWSV corporate partner), local partner Francis Duku, Enviro-Stewards founder Bruce Taylor and Julia Baribeau.
Baribeau is eager to build partnerships, conduct field research, and share her knowledge at public events, including Enviro-Stewards’ recent Impact Film Festival, which highlights global community resilience and capacity-building.
Representing a new kind of entrepreneur, Baribeau is driving impactful change from within. Her journey shows how innovation and community commitment can turn engineering into a force for sustainable, meaningful solutions.
