Mikaela Fitzwilliam

"How did I get involved with Nourish? Well, it involves a long chain of events, starting with me sitting outside of my Linear Algebra class and receiving a text from my friend Sally with a link to www.nourish.org. She received this link from her dad, who had lunch with his brother’s friend, whose daughters were involved with the Chapter at UNC Chapel Hill. As most Nourish stories go, it begins with connections – some more obscure and unique than others – but nevertheless important. If Sally’s dad’s brother’s friend couldn’t make it to lunch that day, I can definitely say that Nourish would not be a part of my life or the lives of the students at McGill.

So what happened once I received that link? I opened it (curious yet sceptical because Sally didn’t send any message with the link) and was instantly intrigued by the unique Nourish model. As a business student concerned with all aspects of sustainability, I wanted in. That’s when Sally and I decided to jump right into the application process and try to bring Nourish to Canada. We succeeded by launching McGill Nourish on campus in the fall of 2014. I knew how much work it would be to get an organization established on campus while also being a full-time student but I could not have predicted the sense of passion, accomplishment, and empowerment that being a part of the greater Nourish movement would evoke.

We had a tough first semester to say the least. Being denied official organization status by our student society (not once but twice) blocked us from hosting events, tabling, and booking meeting space and left us at $550 in profit for the fall semester (our profit goal for the year was $10,000). Nonetheless, living by the motto “fail fast, fail forward” we were not going to give up. Coming back from winter break, we had to make just about $9,500 in 4 months. No pressure, right?

Fast-forward 4 months. We had $15,000 to our name, invested $10,000 of it in our partner’s Project in Peru, and were named Chapter of the Year. We did it. Not only did we do it, but also we exceeded our own goals and expectations. Through perseverance, motivation, hard-work, enthusiasm, and optimism I am proud to say I am the Co-Founder of McGill Nourish and will continue to be involved with the organization while at McGill and long after."