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Not all learning happens in the classroom at 91������Ƶ. As business student Greta Friesen and her colleagues in the OC School of Business found out, getting real-world experience through partnerships with local non-profit and social purpose organizations will have lasting impacts on their career journeys.

Friesen was among a group of students who worked with Kelowna-based , a zero-waste company that provides package-free products such as food and soaps to customers.

The students joined forces with company owner Allisha Heidt, herself a UBC Okanagan grad, and conducted an operational review designed to help it prepare for an upcoming recertification process.

“This project has been invaluable as we enter the B Corp recertification process in 2025,” said Heidt. “The students were able to highlight opportunities for improvement and provide a comprehensive overview of current scoring along with a working framework that captures the criteria of our upcoming recertification.”

The project was one of dozens completed over the past three months as OC students in the College’s four-year Bachelor of Business Administration program partnered with non-profit and social purpose organizations to get real-world experience as part of their education.

Friesen said it was a tremendous opportunity to work alongside a socially conscious business.

“Completing this project at Chickpeace was an incredible way to give back to a community-centered social venture close to home,” she said. “It was so cool to learn more about the certification and its criteria. This project offered me the empowering business learning experience of auditing a real company’s internal structure and offering consulting services in my final year of my Bachelor of Business Administration degree.”

This year’s projects continued a long-standing practice at OC of providing students with opportunities to connect to local organizations to get work experience, ensuring they are job-ready when they complete their programs. The social entrepreneurship course began in 2007 and has included nearly 400 projects connected to 185 organizations during that time.

“This course was created to allow opportunities for students to work with social enterprises and non-profit groups in our community and apply their business knowledge while building relationships with community partners and learning about the tremendous impact they have locally,” said OC business professor Kyleen Myrah. “It’s a win-win for all parties and allows the students to see how they can use their business skills as a force for good.”

The Bachelor of Business Administration program at OC provides students with degree and diploma options as well as different specialties for students to prepare for a career in the business world.

“This is a great example of what we do at 91������Ƶ and how we are immersed in the communities throughout the region,” said Joe Baker, dean of the School of Business. “OC’s faculty and our leadership are extremely well connected to businesses locally and nationally and to leaders in the charitable sector. Our goal is to have our graduates be able to step into great careers in areas that need experienced employees and to prepare them so they can make a difference.”

Employers interested in the upcoming 91������Ƶ Career Expo on Feb. 5, 2025, and how they can partner with OC to offer work experiences for students, can visit Okanagan.bc.ca/careers-hub or contact careershub@okanagan.bc.ca or call 250-862-5454.

Find out more about OC programs at Okanagan.bc.ca