The blog Waterloo’s social innovators by Beth Gallagher was originally posted on the University of Waterloo website. Yale Wang (pictured here, centre, photo by Jonathan Belaski, Light Imaging) and Lexi Salt (right) took part in the IMPACT! Sustainability Champions Training program in Guelph in 2013. Special thanks to our partners St. Paul’s University College GreenHouse Program at the University of Waterloo.

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Entrepreneurial students with a passion for solving the world’s biggest problems, live and work together at the new GreenHouse incubator

Lexi Salt was a social entrepreneur long before she even knew what it meant.

“Calling myself an entrepreneur would have seemed a bit scary and overwhelming,” says Salt, a third-year international development student at the University of Waterloo.

But last year, she organized an event to raise awareness about water and sanitation issues in Kenya. It took a lot of imagination and drive to make the event a reality.  “It was really difficult to get everything together and make it meaningful for participants,” she says.

“But I essentially invented the idea,” says Salt. “I realize now the label – social entrepreneur – has always fit me.”

Sustainable food choices

Now, Salt is onto her next venture – raising awareness about sustainable food on campus – but this time she has the support of mentors as one of 11 Waterloo students living and working in the new GreenHouse social entrepreneurship incubator. The live-in program, at St. Paul’s University College, supports students who want to use their entrepreneurial spirit to create organizations that tackle issues like poverty and climate change.

All University of Waterloo students are welcome and the current GreenHouse students come from a broad range of faculties including, science, arts, applied health sciences and environment.

The range of social ventures so far is also impressive. Some of the projects include: a socially responsible investment fund; the BIKE project – Believing in Kinesthetic Education; an eco-game called Shark Bite, and a Clean the World project working to prevent hygiene-related illnesses.

Salt’s imagination has always bent toward helping people and supporting communities and her career plans involved working for a non-profit organization. Now, through GreenHouse she’s building skills and networking so she can create her own non-profit venture.

“We’re growing and supporting the next generation of innovators, leaders and entrepreneurs,” says Tania Del Matto, GreenHouse director. “There’s pressing global problems and they’re so complex . . . we need to empower entrepreneurial youth so they can change the world.”

GreenHouse participants live in shared suites at St. Paul’s University College, one of Waterloo’s four affiliated colleges on campus, for at least four months. During that time they take part in workshops, seminars and working sessions to develop and implement an idea under the guidance of mentors.                               

Making an impact

Salt, along with team member Yale Wang a second-year student of earth and environmental sciences, plan to highlight sustainable food issues on campus by organizing field trips to local markets and farms for students.

“The amount of food we waste as North Americans and Europeans is unbelievable,” says Wang. “We’re hoping to get students to start to think about how the food choices they make every day that affect our environment and people around the world. We really want to make an impact.”

Visitors and interested students are welcome to meet GreenHouse innovators and learn about their budding social enterprises at an Open House on Tues. Dec 3 from 3:30 to 5 pm at St. Paul’s University College Alumni Hall. Light refreshments will be served.

Written by Beth Gallagher

Source: University of Waterloo

Please visit IMPACT! Sustainability Champions Training program to learn more about the IMPACT! program.