ENACTUS COMMUNITY MEMBERS
CHANTELLE BUFFIE
Enactus Simon Fraser University Alumna
Chantelle can best be described as an individual with a heart for social change and head for business. Completing her BBA at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business, Chantelle discovered her passion to create change by transforming traditional non-profit structures using business concepts. She has done this both through her work with Enactus and with her own social enterprise.
Chantelle was project manager of Enactus Simon Fraser University’s long standing program, the SFU Entrepreneur of the Year (SEY) Program. This initiative helps aspiring entrepreneurs at Simon Fraser University expand their business ideas and actual businesses. The program traditionally involved a competition, however Chantelle saw this as an opportunity to build and expand on the program.
She also helped launched Jump Start, an eight-week accelerator session that helps aspiring student entrepreneurs gain the entrepreneurial mindset they need to transform their basic business idea into an actual business. After weekly workshops led by local entrepreneurs, mentorship, pitch practices, deliverables and constant feedback, venture teams pitch their businesses and progress in a mini Demo-Day to a panel of industry professionals. This new addition has increased the impact of SFU Entrepreneur of the Year program on student entrepreneurs at Simon Fraser University.
In addition to her role as project manager at Enactus Simon Fraser, Chantelle took her passion for difference making to cofound her own social enterprise. Fusion Kitchen is a start-up that offers all-inclusive cultural cooking classes for corporate team building activities and social events. Taught by “cultural experts”, Fusion Kitchen is a platform that builds self-confidence, develops transferable skill sets and provides Canadian work experience for immigrant women.
This business idea won the BC Ideas Competition hosted by Ashoka Canada, a collaborative competition where social entrepreneurs enter their ideas and programs to gain funding and support. For her role on the Enactus team and her hard work co-founding Fusion Kitchen, Chantelle Buffie was named the 2013 HSBC Woman Leader of Tomorrow.
After winning the 2013 HSBC Woman Leader of Tomorrow award, Chantelle kept working on her social venture Fusion Kitchen while completing her degree at Simon Fraser University. She was also selected as a member of the Next 36, a program which selects the top 36 entrepreneurial students from across Canada in efforts to help breed the next generation of high growth of entrepreneurs.
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