From harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to tackling social challenges, eight La Trobe students have shown you don’t need to wait until you graduate to make an impact.
At the recent Enactus Australia National Championships in Brisbane, the Enactus La Trobe team showcased its student-led social enterprise initiatives and secured $6,000 in project funding, while co-president Aryendu Singh was recognised with a prestigious national student award.
The team’s strong performance also earned an invitation to attend the Enactus World Cup and associated global research conference in Brazil later this year.
The Enactus La Trobe team was led by co-presidents Aryendu Singh and Akshad Shelar, and also included team members Cooper Charnas (treasurer), Nadil Silva (executive secretary), Mary George (project lead), Byron Singleton (pitch lead), Liza Sharma and Ananya Bhadauria.
The students come from a diverse range of disciplines including speech pathology, business, law, IT and cybersecurity. They joined 203 students from universities across Australia and 43 judges from academia, industry and executive leadership.
During the conference, the Enactus La Trobe team presented three projects across four categories:
- Augment – an AI-focused pre-accelerator helping students build entrepreneurial skills and confidence before applying for innovation opportunities.
- Melbourne Companions – a program helping older Australians develop cybersecurity and AI awareness through workshops while creating intergenerational connections with students.
- EnReach – an international education initiative connecting Victorian and Ugandan students through cross-cultural learning opportunities. EnReach generated enough revenue to fund 20 STEM scholarships for Ugandan students.
$6,000 funding win
The team’s success at the Enactus Australia National Championship secured a $6,000 Ford C3 Community Grant for Melbourne Companions.
Melbourne Companions first received $6,000 in Ford C3 funding in 2025, which enabled the team to deliver a successful pilot program with the City of Kingston. The additional $6,000 secured this year will support expansion of the awareness program into regional areas, including Bendigo.
The project helps older Australians build confidence in navigating cybersecurity, online scams, artificial intelligence and deepfakes, while also creating opportunities for students to connect with and support their local community.
“The project leverages existing community needs of our students to find volunteer opportunities and elderly members needing cyber awareness. Our job is simply connecting the dots,” Aryendu said.
“The program helps older community members learn about cyber security and emerging technologies, while giving students the chance to build meaningful relationships and strengthen community connections.”
For project lead Mary George, the championships were a chance to showcase Melbourne Companions to a national audience.
“For me personally, it gave me the chance to present our cyber project, something I’m really passionate about, on a national stage.”
The team also presented Augment and EnReach, two projects designed to address different gaps in student capability and global education access.
Akshad explained that while the three projects had different focuses, the underlying aim was to identify needs and develop practical solutions.
“With Augment, we identified a gap between awareness and confidence. Students may know that programs like LaunchPad, innovation ventures and hackathons exist, but many do not feel ready to take that first step.”
Developed in partnership with the Innovation Hub (now Eagle Works Innovation centre), Augment is an AI-focused pre-accelerator program that helps students develop entrepreneurial skills and confidence before applying for opportunities such as LaunchPad.
The program uses AI workshops, mentoring and hands-on projects where students learn how tools such as Gemini and AI-assisted “vibe coding” can be used to develop ideas, create prototypes and explore ventures. The mission is to take students from “curious to capable”, said Aryendu.
“The program was designed to make innovation more accessible, particularly for students with little or no technology background,” he said.
National recognition
The conference also brought national recognition for co-president Aryendu, who received Enactus Australia’s Most Outstanding Student Award – recognising exemplary leadership, student-led impact and contribution to social enterprise.
He was also invited to speak on Enactus National Championship alumni panel as a current student, sharing insights on student entrepreneurship, social enterprise leadership and the future of student-led innovation.
“Although I am still a current student, I was invited to the alumni panel because of the work we are building through Enactus La Trobe and the perspective I could bring on the future of student-led enterprise,” Aryendu said.
“I spoke about the need to move social impact beyond goodwill and towards sustainable models where beneficiaries, partners and the organisations delivering the work all receive meaningful value.”
What’s next
While the team prepares for the upcoming Global Research Championship and Conference in Brazil, they’re also hard at work developing their existing projects and seeking new ways to make positive change.
Akshad said the global exposure in Brazil would be harnessed to create further opportunity for students. ”My priority now is to turn this momentum into a clear pipeline where students can identify real community problems, build solutions and eventually lead those projects themselves,” said Akshad.
Incoming 2027 co-president Mary George said she was looking forward to further building on the group’s achievements.
“I’m stoked to step up as co-president of Enactus La Trobe next year and build on the strong culture of teamwork that has made the group so successful. The impact we create comes from everyone contributing their time, energy and ideas, and I love being part of a community that is committed to making a difference together,” she said.
Aryendu was also keen to highlight the collective effort behind Enactus’ success, crediting the wider team for their work in turning ideas into impactful projects.
“I think we’ve built a great Enactus team at La Trobe. It’s not always us (Aryendu and Akshad) doing, even though we are the faces. There’s great students who put in the work and we are helping them guide where the work should be done.”
Aryendu added that the team was also grateful for La Trobe’s support.
“We’d also like to thank La Trobe University for its support as a whole, and the way we’ve been institutionally supported from the top down – from our faculty advisors and partners, through to the Vice-Chancellor’s Office for providing us with a Strategic Initiatives Grant, which directly sponsored this trip.”
Feature image: Enactus La Trobe members, Liza Sharma, Ananya Bhadauria, Mary George, Akshad Shelar, are presented with the Ford C3 Community Grant for Melbourne Companions. Pictured with Tim Hart (Chairman of the Board, National Stock Exchange of Australia)
Find out more
Want to learn more or get involved? Visit the Enactus La Trobe website, LinkedIn and Enactus Australia for more information.
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