Today, Mavis is engaged in a Master’s degree in public policy at the University of Toronto. She says, “A lot of my classmates are still figuring out what’s important to them so they are pursuing everything they possibly can, but one of the huge benefits of entrepreneurship training was helping me develop a better idea of what’s really important to me.”
This goes beyond school. Mavis, who plans to work in public service and hopes to run for politics someday, reached out to a local Member of Parliament, who in turn asked her to lead a team of volunteers connecting local businesses with green technology grants.
“I’m the youngest on the team,” Mavis says, “but I have knowledge and confidence to direct it. We recognized early on that our approach wasn’t quite right, so we’re changing what we do to meet real needs. Before I came to GreenHouse, I was afraid to take risks or to pursue things if I didn’t know if it would go somewhere.
“GreenHouse helped me become more flexible and open-minded in realizing that it was okay to pivot if I needed to, and to be confident that I could pick up skills as I went along.”