News

The Big Ideas Challenge for Social Good went big this year and awarded 10 fellowships to aspiring social entrepreneurs: Five in a ‘People and Wellbeing’ category, and five in a ‘People and Planet’ category.

The competition, which was organized by St. Paul’s GreenHouse, had a circus tent theme. Director Tania Del Matto said that’s because GreenHouse seeks to “expand the tent of youth-led social innovation and entrepreneurship as a pathway for young people to build the business and career skills they need to be problem solvers and leaders.”

Above: Trishala Pillai, Elle Crevits, Benny Hua, Rachel Thompson, and Richard Yim

Five social innovators from St. Paul’s GreenHouse had the opportunity to speak at the premier global social entrepreneurship conference last week – the Ashoka U Exchange, hosted by Tulane University in New Orleans this year.

St. Paul’s student Kaitlin Murray (fourth-year International Development) is the recipient of a Mitacs Globalink Research grant, worth $5,000, which will allow her to work with a non-governmental organization called NIRMAN in India this term. Mitacs is an internationally known Canadian not-for-profit organization that supports research, training, and social innovation. 

The University of Waterloo’s course in Aboriginal studies (“Issues in Contemporary Native Communities”) saw a whopping 400 percent increase in student enrolment this term – something that may reflect a broader societal interest in Aboriginal culture and communities, says Graham Brown, Principal of St. Paul’s University College, where the course is taught.

Above: Richard Yim, Rhea Daniels, and Trishala Pillai

St. Paul’s GreenHouse received $47,000 from the Libro Prosperity Fund today to launch a fellowship program that will provide up to 10 young entrepreneurs with residence in the GreenHouse program in the spring term.

St. Paul’s GreenHouse alumna Renishaki Kamal (BA ‘14) won $25,000 for her venture, Fidget, winning second prize at the Communitech Women Entrepreneurs Bootcamp pitch competition this month, while alumna Rachel Thompson (BSc  ’15) received $2,500 for her venture, Marlena Books, from SoJo’s recent #SOCENT Idea Bootcamp.

Among the many new students who started classes at UWaterloo this fall is Leonard Honore, a refugee student from the Democratic Republic of Congo who is living at St. Paul’s. He is being sponsored through the University of Waterloo’s and World University Services of Canada’s (WUSC) Student Refugee Program.

All Waterloo students contribute to the program through a dollar-per-term levy administered by the Federation of Students. St. Paul's students also help cover the sponsored students' accommodation and meals through a volunteer student levy. 

Three members of the St. Paul’s GreenHouse social innovation community showcased their startup ideas at the Spring Social Innovation Showcase on Thursday, July 30, and received a total of $5,000 in grants for their early-stage, high-potential ideas.

The following startups received funding:

A new $1,800 investment from the Ryther Fund will allow St. Paul’s GreenHouse alumna Elle Crevits and her partner Jonathan Ramzan, an Environment and Business alumnus, to expand their social-purpose startup, Food Not Waste.