John Carroll University’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), is the winner of the organization’s 2011 USA Regional Competition, recently held in Cleveland. The John Carroll team will now head to the 2011 SIFE National Competition in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 10-12. SIFE is a global, non-profit organization that brings together a diverse network of university students, academic professionals and industry leaders around the shared mission of creating a better, more sustainable world through the positive power of business. SIFE establishes student teams on university campuses that are led by faculty advisors. The students are challenged to develop community outreach projects. More than 48,000 students on 1,500 university campuses in 39 countries participate in SIFE. The winning John Carroll SIFE projects are:
- African Children Ministries: a skill building and fundraising program which raised $7,000 that helped purchase a truck for the orphanage.
- Hope for Honduran Children Foundation: a partnership that created a micro-enterprise to establish sustainable revenue for the children. This program raised $4,000 and resulted in an immersion trip for 11 students that will take place next month.
- Elevate Your Future: an opportunity for students to learn about, practice and refine their interviewing skills through interaction with executives, including members of the John Carroll University Entrepreneurs Association at the Muldoon Center.
- Sam's Club Environmental Sustainability Challenge: a partnership with Geraci's Italian Restaurant and a grant from Sam's Club, the students developed methods to make the local eatery more environmentally sustainable.
Scott Allen, Ph.D., assistant professor of Management, Marketing, and Logistics in John Carroll’s Boler School of Business, serves as the SIFE advisor.