Enactus Team Heads for Regional Competition

Published March 19, 2013 at 3:30 pm in Features, Points of Pride by Rachel E. Dewey.

Imagination. Courage. Determination. Partnership. Accountability. Curiosity. Those six traits and four community service initiatives will be shared by six Keuka students at the regional Enactus competition  in Baltimore, Md. March 22.

Enactus is an international, non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilize students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. The international organization formerly known as Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) changed its name to Enactus this fall.

Regional winners automatically receive an invitation to the national competition, which Keuka has done nine of the past 11 years. This year’s nationals will be held May 21-23 in Kansas City, Mo.

The Keuka team will deliver  a 17-minute presentation outlining four community service projects  it completed this year, Including:

• a Campus Sustainability Initiative (CSI) to reduce energy consumption and promote green awareness;
• One Piece a Week, an initiative to donate restored furniture to the Tompkins County Task Force for Battered Women; and
• entrepreneurial programs with Rochester-based PathStone, a private, not-for-profit regional community development and human service organization that provides services to farm workers, low-income families and economically depressed communities throughout New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Vermont, Virginia, and Puerto Rico.

Members of the presentation team include:

• senior Desiree Ford of Harpursville, an organizational communication major and president of Enactus;
• freshman Rich Matrassi of New York Mills, an organizational communication major;
• sophomore Brittany Gleason of Carthage, a mathematics and management major and chief financial officer for Enactus;
• junior Darrcy Matthews of DeKalb Junction, a sports management and accounting major who  serves as the team’s competition coordinator
• sophomore Marilynn Schoen of Whitesville, an accounting and management major who works on the CSI initiative
• senior business management major Tom Hoang of Vietnam
• sophomore Josh Crummenauer and junior Jordan Eaves serve as competition alternates; and
• juniors Dan Stephens and Stephanie Collins serve as audio-visual coordinators.

The team is coached by faculty adviser Sam Ferrara, assistant professor of management.