Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop:

Award-Winning ENACTUS Keeps on Innovating

By Maya Peacock ’24  |  Winter 2023

Entrepreneurial Roadrunners are always on the move at Ramapo College. The Enactus club (Entrepreneurial Action for Us) celebrated a number of successes in 2022 under the guidance of Dr. Tammi Redd, Enactus faculty advisor and associate professor of management in the Anisfield School of Business.

The Ramapo Enactus team entered the TiE NJ University Competition in February, submitting a business plan, business model canvas and pitch presentation, and was named a finalist for the state competition. Maya Peacock ’24, a math major minoring in finance, represented Ramapo against competitors from Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, and Montclair State University, earning the Social Innovation Award and a $500 prize for Grinds to Grill, which experimented with turning used K-cup grinds, collected from Ramapo’s Center for Student Involvement office, into charcoal briquettes.

Held each semester, the Enactus Entrepreneurial Exchange is another opportunity for teams to pitch projects in a collegial competition. Secretary and Project Leader Leah Carratura ’23 won first place and received $1,250 for her team’s business pitch for The Path, which is an online social media platform designed to help students find their dream jobs by communicating with employers and providing orientation in careers of interest. Shryea Ranjan ’24 earned third place and received $500 this past fall for her team’s idea to develop an app idea called Your Way, which helps people find their own comfortable path on their journey for better mental health. It is designed to help people who do not have enough access or information on mental health.

The Ramapo Enactus students continue to innovate in 2023. With their eye on the prize for this year’s 1 Race 4 Oceans competition and Enactus World Cup, Leah Carratura ’24 is leading a team that creates fishing bobbers out of bamboo instead of plastic. Fishing is a popular sport in Northern New Jersey, an area abundant with rivers and streams. Dumped or lost fishing gear comprises 10% of ocean plastic pollution, and 80% of ocean pollution comes from rivers, so creating bobbers from bamboo reduces plastic pollution in waterways.

Enactus is a shining example of the clubs and organizations at Ramapo College that empower students to unleash their creativity and harness their critical thinking and problem solving skills for the betterment of the community and environment.