Hi my name is Kanan Shah. I am currently a Business Management student at Ryerson University in Canada majoring in Entrepreneurship and Global Business Management. Being a first year student I have learnt that getting involved in university and taking initiative will teach you more than any books ever will. Currently starting a sales based student group with my co-founder and being a part of Water-G and other student groups at Ryerson. I am a young, enthusiastic, independent individual with a vision to do great things for people in this world who are not as privileged as others.
Kanan’s social venture idea: Water-G
In rural India just like many other developing countries women carry heavy pots of water to their homes that often have no access to electricity, because of this they are forced to use toxic fuels like kerosene to purify their water on daily basis. Our product filters arsenic, fluoride, and waterborne pathogens that cause millions of avoidable deaths in the developing world. Working in a communal structure that sustains several families at once. While generating its own energy, the low cost, Water G uses advanced ultraviolet technologies to help ensure a healthy future for our most vulnerable.
Kanan’s host organisation:
Oxford Social Enterprise Partnership
Oxford Brookes University, University of Oxford (including the Said Business School) and Student Hubs soon after launching their respective social entrepreneurship development programmes, identified that there was scope for more extensive collaborative working with the intention of disseminating good practice and experience.
OSEP aims to make all supporting elements of the Universities Social Entrepreneurship initiatives available to all participants so that individual social entrepreneurs can build and develop their own customised support programme and network. Its aim is to find, fund and support through training and mentoring, existing and potential social entrepreneurs across Oxfordshire with the ambition to be the best regional and national community resource supporting social enterprises in the UK.
Meet Kanan’s mentor:
Victoria Lennox is a social entrepreneur, commentator, program architect and policy advisor who has a track record of creating meaningful political and policy inroads to advance entrepreneurship.
Jeff Willmore has extensive experience of working in Further and Higher Education having previously been Associate Principal (Communications and Marketing) at Yeovil College. He left education to become Communications Director at a large local authority in Buckinghamshire where he worked on major projects including £350 million redevelopment of High Wycombe. He has set up several social enterprises mainly involved in training and developing young people from socially deprived areas.
Jeff’s current post is co-coordinator of the Oxford Brookes social entrepreneurship (OBSEA) programme and it is for him an ideal role as it enables him to combine his previous experience with a project which both addresses pressing community social issues whilst enabling and facilitating personal development and skills for staff and students. He is also joint project manager of Oxfordshire Social Entrepreneurship Partnership (OSEP) which was set up by Oxford Brookes University, The University of Oxford and Student Hubs to support the social enterprise community operating both within the two Universities and beyond into the wider community. This award winning initiative has engaged with over 100 organisations providing funding, training and mentoring support.
Jeff has interest is in social enterprise and cultural difference and has studied social enterprise operation and practice in USA, Korea and China. He believes that universities are uniquely placed to develop citizens of consequence who will challenge traditional solutions to social issues and be encouraged, nurtured and develop the skills needed to develop new exciting sustainable ideas and enterprises.