An SFU Beedie School of Business student social enterprise start-up was selected as one of three university project winners in a new province-wide community engagement competition, BC Ideas.

The start-up, Fusion Kitchen, won in the BC Ideas University Solutions Investment category, for putting forth an idea that creates positive social impact in BC communities.

Fusion Kitchen employs immigrant women to lead cooking classes, in the process sharing their food and cultures, while learning transferable skills for the Canadian job market.

The brainchild of Beedie undergrad Chantelle Buffie and communications student Sonam Swarup, Fusion Kitchen will now benefit from $4667 in funding donated by SFU, UBC, and the University of Victoria.

“Fusion Kitchen’s long-term overall vision is really to decrease the barriers these women face in getting employment and integrating into Canada,” said Buffie. “We do try to teach them skills they don’t necessarily have, but it’s also about connecting them with people outside their communities.”

Fusion Kitchen is just one of a number of social innovation projects at the Beedie School of Business that have benefited from the school’s recently launched Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator program.

The program helps entrepreneurially-minded students develop projects to address society’s social, environmental and economic challenges.

BC Ideas was launched in May this year with input and support from 25 community-based partners, including businesses, not-for-profit organizations, universities and government.

In November, the competition awarded a total of more than $270,000 to the top social innovations. The competition is part of a province-wide effort to engage communities in finding innovative solutions to address pressing social challenges, and build a stronger BC.

For more information visit www.changemakers.com/bcideas