Are you a high school student interested in developing your competitive advantage and networking with some of Canada’s brightest entrepreneurs? If so, then why not register for the 2010 Back to Business Conference to be held in Guelph on March 6, 2010.

B2B is the brainchild of 10 students, 2 of which are Impact members. Last year, Susie Pan and Mitchell Schinbein were Shad Valley Interns for Impact, working together on the Impact National Conference, giving them the inside experience of planning and executing a national conference.

The goal of the B2B conference is to bridge the gap between business skills and knowledge, teaching valuable and essential business skills that cannot be learned through textbooks.

Impact will be highlighted at the B2B conference – promoting the Impact Microcredit Competition and the 2010 Impact National Conference. The 2010 Back To Business Conference will also feature student keynotes, interactive business challenges such as the first ever Business Olympics, an exhibition of local resources and opportunities, as well as lots of networking opportunities.

Some of the events at the conference include:
- Elevator pitch – An opportunity to learn to develop your 30 second pitch.
- Exhibition Scavenger Hunt
- Patent Pending – An interactive marketing sales pitch challenge.

In addition, B2B is offering a $500 scholarship to a high school student who has demonstrated tremendous business leadership in his or her community. B2B has established this scholarship to recognize the amazing work of youth and their tremendous potential as future business leaders. To apply, please go to the website: www.back2business.org

Please register online or find out more information on www.back2business.org or email Susie Pan at susie@back2business.org.

Hi, I’m Mitchell Schinbein and I am an intern at Impact as part of the Shad Valley program. At Impact, I am working on Impact Tours, a new initiative for the Impact National Conference where delegates  have the opportunity to get outside and visit bustling downtown Toronto where they will be touring businesses and getting an inside peek at the intricacies of running a thriving enterprise.  I am thrilled to work with Impact considering my experience with Impact goes back a few years…

I was in Grade 9, and I know now, that I knew nothing back then. I was always interested in business and entrepreneurship, so I decided to join a few business related clubs – the Junior Achievement (JA) Company Program being one. The JA Company Program is an after school program where you start a business venture with other high school students from your city. You create a product, manufacture it, and sell it.  At JA one night, the mentors announced that the Impact Conference 2007 was happening soon. It sounded interesting, so I applied to attend. I kept on stressing on whether I would be accepted as a delegate, then I got the e-mail of acceptance: I was ecstatic!

The day of the conference arrived and I headed out to Toronto. I registered for the conference at a table, got my cool name tag. I glanced at the itinerary and set out to find the room where the networking session was taking place. After a few wrong turns, I found the room, and walked in. I think I was the only person in the room of about 80 people that wasn’t wearing a suit coat. I quickly took my seat and tried to catch on to what was happening. I found out that the event consisted of standing up and introducing yourself in front of the room. I felt a bit intimidated, keep in mind that the room was filled with a whole bunch of university students wearing formal attire, and here I was, some measly grade 9 (without a suit coat!). I think I actually volunteered to go, just to get it over with. I think I said something about being interested in technology and reading the Economist. The rest of the day was sort of a blur, filled with listening to great speakers, participating in a case competition, and meeting amazing people. I remember talking to a high school student who previously ran a computer repair service, the President of the Robotics Club at the University of Waterloo, a person who worked for the Ministry of Small Business, and many more. Then the Gala came and I got to hear the keynote speaker: Michael Lee-Chin.

Michael Lee Chin

His speech was definitely one of the highlights of the conference for me. He told his story from his humble beginnings to his current status as a billionaire.  His story was filled with many great jokes and he spoke with much passion. The next morning, I arrived down from my room and got breakfast. This being the first formal event I’d ever attended, I made a mistake.  I was walking along the buffet and noticed a whole bunch of white chocolates. White chocolate for breakfast?! How can this conference get any better? I took one and went to sit down and start my breakfast. I picked the white chocolate up and took a bite of it, turns out it was butter! But the day got better from there; I met more great people, and listened to some presentations that I still remember to this day.

I learned a lot from the world-class speakers, met amazing people, had a great time, and learned some valuable lessons (one about distinguishing white chocolate from butter). I have to say that the Impact Conference has opened my eyes to many opportunities (Shad Valley being one) and changed my life for the better. I would highly recommend any secondary or post-secondary student to attend. It is a great networking, learning, and fun experience. Hope to see you there!

-Mitchell Schinbein

Shad Intern

Shad Valley, Queen’s University 2009

While most high schools students are still hovering over their economics textbook, Impact believes that high school students can be entrepreneurs. Contrary to popular assumption, entrepreneurship isn’t just about starting a for-profit business. In fact, entrepreneurship could be about materialization something you are passionate about whether it’s in the arts, science or social activism. Examples of entrepreneurship at the high school level ranges from starting a school club to running an online community.  Through entrepreneurship, you will learn real life skills that you can’t learn else where, especially not from textbooks. Aaron Pinto is an example of a young entrepreneur who started his own community initiative while in still high school. In this article, he joined in for a brief discussion on Entrepreneurship in high school.

What is Entrepreneurship?

• Initiative  and innovation
• Determination to achieve a goal
• Realizing your dreams
• Materializing an idea
• Fulfilling a demand not yet filled in the market
• Serving the community, developing personal skills and expanding your network

Aaron: It is all about pursuing a passion. Empower those who are in need of your help, instead of giving them a one time solution. For example, Aaron’s project is aimed toward educating underprivileged families on the importance of healthful diets instead of simply handing out food.

Why You Should Start in High School?

• Gain valuable experiences and set the foundation for expansions in the future.
• Start building a network with your current peers who are young, enthusiastic and share the same vision as you.
• You have fresh idea and new prospective that give you a competitive edge when you market toward you age group.
• There are various organizations that are available to help you along the way.

Aaron: It is always great to gain experiences for the future. You can apply the skills that you learned from your extracurricular activities in high school to start your own initiative. You will become too preoccupied with other things as you get older, so it is best to follow your dream while you have the time, energy and skills. It is these experiences that will help you choose what you want to do later on in life.

Where Do You Start?

• Go to organizations such as Impact, and connect with people who are also working in the industry who can become mentor to help you along the way.
• Contact previous connection from clubs, fundraisers, and friends from school who would like to help.
• Develop a business proposal or simply a plan for what your organization/company is going to do and have it looked over by a mentor.
• Have a group of supportive people that you can rely on.
• Use the internet, local newspaper, school announcements or even just word of mouth to promote your organization.

Aaron: I start this project because of my volunteering experience with Shape the Future and with Community Environment Alliance of Peel. So it is definitely important to use the skills and the connections you made before to help you with your initiative.

What inspired you to start MWL?

Aaron: I was exposed to poverty, disability and mental illness while visiting Calcutta, India. I was inspired by Mother Teresa’s work in India and decide to start a local initiative back in Canada.

Do you have any advices for other high school students?

Aaron: Make the best use of all the opportunities that come your way. You’ll learn so much and make life-long friends and many meaningful connections. Getting involved in the community is just as important as your classroom education. You can achieve as much as your dreams takes you, but how much you put in to it determines your success.

Aaron Pinto is a recent graduate of St. Francis Xavier SS in Mississauga, Ontario and a 2009 McMaster Shad Alumni. He co-founded Meals with Love (MWL), a project hat empowers the low income families in peel region by providing them with nutritious and environmentally sustainable produces in reusable hampers. MWL also hosts presentation on nutritional health issues. This project first began 6 month ago and launched its first batch of hampers on August 26^th, 2009. Aaron will attend the University of Western Ontario this fall.

For more information on MWL please check out: http://www.mealswithlove.webs.com/

Jessica Chi is a summer 2009 Impact intern and McMaster Shad Alumna.

Meet the Shads

As a former Shad Valley participant myself, it gives me great pleasure to be able to introduce this year’s students from the Shad Valley program that are working with Impact.  In case you aren’t aware, Shad Valley is an award-winning summer enrichment program for top high school students to experience business, entrepreneurship, science, engineering, and leadership.  Founded in 1980, “Shad” takes place in one of ten of Canada’s top universities.  Each summer, 50-60 Grade 10, 11, and 12 students are selected to attend each campus where they are immersed in an absolutely life-changing experience.

Impact has had a long history working with Shad Valley.  Our Founder, Kunal Gupta, was a Shad and has since been named Shad Alumnus of the year for his work with Impact.  Barry Bisson, President of Shad Valley, sits on Impact’s Board of Advisors.  Dozens of current and past Impact members have come from the Shad family.  However, the most exciting aspect of our relationship is the opportunity to participate in Shad Valley’s Internship program.

After Shad student spend the month of July at a university campus, they return to their hometown for August.  Some students are offered work placements with some of Canada’s top Companies including RBC, RIM, and IBM.  Impact also has the incredible opportunity to recruit these students by offering them a volunteering position within our organization.

At Impact, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Canada’s top high school students.  During the month of August, each student is placed on a project or team and is mentored by current Impact members.  The internship provides a great opportunity for the students to apply their knowledge from Shad Valley.  In addition, the students get a close-up look at one of Canada’s largest student-run organizations.

This year, we have 18 incredible interns working within our organization.  Over the next few weeks, we will be releasing blog posts that will describe their experiences with Impact.  Thank you to all of the Shads for their hard work and an even bigger thank you to the Shad Valley organization for providing us with the opportunity to take part in their incredible program.

-Alex

President, British Columbia, Impact Entrepreneurship Group
Shad Valley, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005