Ready to Present

From left: Andrea Savage, Salem Habte and Ali Brandolino competed in London. Photo provided by Enactus.

Coming off a record year, UMKC Enactus is prepared for the next level

By Mike Plunkett

“While our team has many goals, our overarching goal is to impact as many people as possible in a positive way.” — Ali Brandolino

It’s hard to summarize a years’ worth of work in about 18 minutes.

But at the 2019 Enactus National Exposition, members of the UMKC Enactus team did exactly that.

In front of top executives from Hallmark and other Fortune 500 companies, presenters provided a robust summation of projects the 80-plus members took on, such as combating food waste using an app, partnering with a community school in Ogwuokwu, Nigeria to provide clean water and new educational opportunities and supporting entrepreneurial artists through mentorship programs.

“The student’s presentation is their best calling card. After [the judges and audience] see that, they say, ‘Oh wow, I get it,’” said Erin Blocher, assistant teaching professor and co-faculty advisor for Enactus.

When Nationals was done, UMKC achieved a first: Out of more than 400 Enactus teams, recognition as one of the top four.

That award was a culmination of months of hard work. It’s also the recognition of the Bloch School ensuring student-driven organizations based on human-centered design like Enactus continue to thrive.

Their feat at Nationals highlights how Enactus has grown and matured as a student organization. Ben Williams, Enactus advisor, said since coming under the Bloch School in 2005, Enactus has benefited from the school’s investment in its successes.

That investment includes support from Bloch alumni. FeedKC, the social program created by Andrea Savage (B.B.A. ’19) while she was a Bloch student, coordinates leftover food pickups with nonprofit soup kitchens and food preparers. The team’s network provided technical assistance to keep the project moving without exorbitant expenses.

A donor also invested in FeedKC during the 2019 Pure Pitch Rally, a “Shark Tank” type format where Savage promoted the nonprofit to raise awareness and generate continued investment and support. Savage received $1,000 from the Rotary Club of Kansas City, as well as additional verbal commitments for additional funding.

The group’s leadership has also been recognized for their contributions. Savage and junior Ali Brandolino, who currently serves as Enactus vice president, won the Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the 2018 and 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, respectively.

Williams said the group exemplifies the type of top performers key companies want.

“The city sees the value of students like Andrea and Ali, investing back into the city. We have a ton of support from people across Kansas City who see the impact of these students and say, ‘This is something I want to support,’” said Williams, managing director of student programs for the Regnier Institute.

In 2020, Enactus is keeping to the same principles that made them successful. What makes UMKC unique to other Enactus programs is its embrace of human-centered design as a guiding principle. In applying elements of design thinking, Williams said the goal is to “create for the person, not for the project.”

Brandolino said that because of Enactus’ approach to human-centered design, the projects will continue to evolve. The team constantly iterates to ensure continued success and meet the needs of the people they are impacting.

In addition to FeedKC and Educate to Elevate, the program that partners with the village in Ogwuokwu, Enactus will focus its 2020 efforts on: The Pegasus Project, which fits bikes with electric motors to help underserved communities who don’t have access to their own transportation. ƒ Generation Green, a sustainability project working to eliminate plastic in the KC area by recycling plastics into usable teaching supplies. ƒ Menasha, working with the Wisconsin-based manufacturing corporation on how to solve issues associated with hiring temporary workers.

And in a unique arrangement, Enactus will partner with the Association of Latin Professionals for America on collaborating with a Mexican border town. Both aim to accomplish several projects, such as setting up processes to sell artisan products in the United States.

It’s a lot to take on but Brandolino said the team is ready for the challenge.

“While our team has many goals, our overarching goal is to impact as many people as possible in a positive way,” she said.

Blocher and Williams hope that Enactus’ successes will lead to continued support from Bloch alumni and the greater Kansas City area. Even though the Bloch School provides funds, Enactus raises the majority of its budget through donations and sponsorships.

And yes, the team is preparing for another trip to Enactus Nationals. As pleased as they were with the 2019 results, Williams and Blocher know that Nationals is a part of the journey and not the endpoint.

“For Erin and me, it’s a student development goal for us,” Williams said. “If we never made it to the final four again, that would be fine, as long as we see these students develop.”

“These students are having the ultimate college experience,” Blocher said.

UMKC Enactus is hard at work for the 2020 Nationals competition. For more information, visit umkcenactus.org or contact Ben Williams at williamsbenj@umkc.edu.

STUDENT CHAPTERS HONORED

Student chapters affiliated with the Bloch School were awarded during the 2019-2020 academic year: Beta Alpha Psi announced that accounting professors Melissa Schulte and Julie Kline and the Epsilon Delta Chapter have been recognized internationally as a Distinguished Chapter. The Nu Xi Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi from University of Missouri-Kansas City won four awards for the Fraternity’s Midwestern Region: R. Nelson Mitchell Outstanding Collegiate Chapter, Outstanding Service Award for a Collegiate Chapter, Outstanding Professional Activities Award for a Collegiate Chapter, and Outstanding Scholastic Development Award for a Collegiate Chapter. In addition, Dr. Robert Waris was recognized as the Midwestern Region Chapter Advisor of the Year. Awards were presented at their biennial national convention, Grand Chapter Congress.