UNSW Commerce graduate Monica Wang鈥檚 internship did more than give her industry-leading skills, it led her to the philanthropic world of business.
Monica Wang鈥檚聽UNSW Business School聽degree gave her industry-leading skills which led to where she is today, as the Director of Finance at not-for-profit Kua.
During an internship at聽, she was told about two UNSW students who were on the look-out for someone with a commerce background, to join their start-up Kua.
Kua sells Ugandan coffee to Sydney workplaces - with zero waste, in reusable canisters - and then circulates the profits back into Ugandan communities.
After Monica joined the start-up, they enrolled in subject COMM3030 and started the聽Career Accelerator Program鈥檚 The Big Idea competition.
Whilst in the beginning stages of building a social enterprise from scratch they decided participating in The Big Idea would benefit them greatly, through its exposure and coaching.
鈥淚t was a great opportunity to validate our idea and progress for the real market,鈥 she said.
The Big Idea is Australia鈥檚 leading social enterprise immersion and competition for university students, supported by PwC.
Students are set a challenge to explore an area of disadvantage and propose a business case for an appropriate social enterprise.
This is where the student team introduced the Bugisu Project to the world- now known as聽
鈥淲hat really drew me in so much was the social impact aspect of the competition,鈥 she said.
The Career Accelerator Program COMM3030 provided the team with weekly mentorship, foundational knowledge about entrepreneurship and helped develop their skills in the lead up to The Big Idea competition.
鈥淭hen one thing led to another, we had the semi-finals,鈥 Monica said.
鈥淲e pitched (The Big Idea) at the Business School, the Dean鈥檚 lounge, and then had a few people who are in the social enterprise space judge. Then got put through as an undergraduate team.鈥
The team was then sponsored to fly to Melbourne for the finals, where they took out the top prize for the undergraduate division.
Taking out the coveted title of Australia鈥檚 top student social enterprise gave Kua leverage to grow and enabled them to secure funding.
鈥淲e were also able to turn our prizes into cash, which we invested into our business,鈥 she said.
The Big Idea competition also enabled them to network, and introduced them to CEO of The Big Issue Steven Persson, who gave them a glimpse into how an established social enterprise operated.
Monica is now the Director (Finance) at Kua and believes聽The UNSW Business School聽has given her the industry-leading skills to get her where she is today.
鈥淚t's given me a better understanding of my passion and the different pathways I could take to pursue it. I've been lucky to connect with some inspiring people that I would not have had the chance to meet otherwise!鈥
惭辞苍颈肠补鈥檚听UNSW Business degree聽also guided her on how a social enterprise could potentially make an impact and inspire social change around the world in relation to International Business and International Development.
Want to find out more about UNSW Business Degrees?聽.