MISSISSAUGA (March 13, 2013) – Enactus Canada student teams from Ryerson University and the University of Windsor were named the 2013 Capital One Financial Education Challenge Regional Champions for identifying a need for financial literacy in their communities and delivering projects to specifically address these gaps. These initiatives will help participants improve the quality of their lives by understanding how to budget, save for the future and manage money. This challenge is delivered by national charitable organization Enactus Canada and proudly sponsored by Capital One Canada.
The Capital One Financial Education Challenge is a national competition empowering post-secondary students to develop and deliver projects that teach financial literacy skills. Since 2006, this challenge has engaged almost 4,000 students across the country, resulting in the delivery of 648 financial education outreach projects and directly impacting almost 78,000 Canadians.
Enactus student teams at Ryerson University and University of Windsor have helped improve the lives of people in their community through the following projects:
Ryerson University’s Start Smart project allowed a diverse range of participants to become financially independent, self-sustaining members of society. Through 84 seminars and mentoring programs, the Enactus Ryerson team directly impacted 810 young, urban mothers, disadvantaged youth and impoverished African villagers, and created 20 jobs after putting in over 30,000 volunteer hours.
The Enactus team at the University of Windsor began YOUTHrive, an eight week financial educational program for youth in their community who were at-risk of dropping out of high school and perpetuating the poverty cycle. Over 500 students have been impacted, 60 micro-businesses have been started and over $3,500 in scholarships have been handed out.
”Capital One is dedicated to helping Canadians make wise financial choices, and we believe that education is the key to accomplishing that goal,” said John McNain, VP of Partnerships & Strategy, Capital One Canada. “I want to personally thank all of the participating teams for their dedication to empowering people in need to improve their lives.”
Student teams demonstrated the impact of their financial education-focused projects to panels of industry professionals on March 11th in Mississauga as part of the Enactus Canada Regional Exposition – Central Canada. The winning Enactus teams stood out to the judges because of their dedication to empowering people in need.
“Through these projects, our student teams are enabling progress and impacting individual lives,” said Nicole Almond, Enactus Canada president. “As a national network we are building a better Canada – and world – and empowering people through financial literacy education.”
These teams will now move on to the national level of competition taking place May 6-8th at the 2013 Enactus Canada National Exposition in Toronto, Ontario.
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ABOUT ENACTUS CANADA: Enactus Canada is a community of student, academic and business leaders enabling progress through entrepreneurial action. Guided by academic advisors and business experts, more than 2,300 student leaders create and implement over 350 community empowerment projects and business ventures every year in communities coast to coast. As a global network of 39 countries, Enactus uses the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world. For more information, visit enactus.ca.
ABOUT CAPITAL ONE: With offices in Toronto and Montreal, Capital One has offered Canadian consumers a range of competitive MasterCard credit cards since 1996, and now includes the Aspire suite of rewards cards which are regularly cited by leading rewards experts for the great value they offer consumers. Capital One Canada is a division of Capital One Bank, a subsidiary of Capital One Financial Corporation of McLean, Virginia (NYSE: COF). Capital One is committed to investing in youth in our communities through program investment and the skills and dedication of our talented associates.
Media Inquiries: Jody Lundrigan Director of Communications Enactus Canada E: jody@enactus.ca P: 416.304.1566 x 222 M: 416.346.0131