For Marina Hutton (BCom 2014) the glass is half full, but she doesn’t sit back and sip. On the contrary, she’s busy recharging the world’s goblets.
For example, during her first two years at university in Alberta, when she belonged to the Model UN club, “Someone,” she says, “made a joke about going to Rio.”
Hutton thought it was actually a good idea so she volunteered with We Canada and helped to organize a cross-country tour that collected Canadians’ opinions on what they wanted our government to do at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
“When you ask them, Canadians really do care about sustainability,” she says. “The upshot of the report focuses on fair trade, carbon tax, and measuring GDP differently.”
Then the 20-year-old took the report to Rio de Janeiro, where she was disappointed by the lack of commitment on the part of the federal government (as well as other developed nations) although that hasn’t dimmed her own dedication. She returned to Canada with her “ver tudo cor-de-rosa,” her tendency to see everything in pink, still in full bloom and within weeks of starting classes at Gustavson, she and two fellow undergrads had initiated a microfinance club.
“Even the name catches people,” says Hutton, who signed up 72 other Commerce students in the first information session.
Part of the appeal, she suspects, is that “in business, it’s good to empower other entrepreneurs.”
She’s not limiting her ideas to underfinanced business owners on other continents, though. Since she joined Gustavson, Hutton is always seeking other ways to make the world a better place. In fact, her nom-de-plume for one initiative was – no surprise – Rose-Coloured Glasses.