 "Photo: Courtesy of Eric Johanson")
People might not expect a team of eight San Diego State business students, who returned home as winners in the Students In Free Enterprise Regional Competition, to be planning a fashion show - but they are.
SIFE is an international non-profit organization active at more than 1,400 universities in 48 countries. The teams foster economic opportunities in their communities by organizing outreach projects and working with low-income high school students.
The SDSU SIFE team won the regional competition on April 5 in Seattle. The event was one of 17 SIFE competitions held across the country, in which students showcase their outreach programs in front of a panel of 20 business owners.
SDSU SIFE team members said their ultimate goal is to represent the United States in the SIFE World Cup, which is held in October in New York City, but first the group has to get past more than 60 competitors in the national competition next month in Dallas.
"There's actually one more roadblock on the way to victory," finance senior and SIFE member Eric Johanson said. "We have to get there."
SDSU SIFE team members are hosting a fashion show on May 3 at the W Hotel in San Diego because the team is in need of funds to get all eight members to Dallas. SDSU women will be walking the runway in clothes from American Apparel and Abercrombie and Fitch, Johanson said.
The money will not only help the SDSU SIFE team get to Dallas, but it will allow it to top its previous regional competition performance.
In Seattle, the students had 24 minutes to present a PowerPoint presentation of more than 2,000 slides displaying their accomplishments to the judges, who also awarded the SDSU team $3,500 for having the "most sustainable program" and "creating the most economic opportunity for their community." The money is to be used for future programs.
The "most sustainable" award is based on a team's ability to fund themselves through contracts, Johanson said. This year, the team worked with 19 small businesses in National City creating marketing plans, consulting and helping owners make sense of complicated local business standards. In return, National City awarded SDSU a three-year contract worth $75,000 for future business students.
"The SDSU SIFE team has made a lasting impact on many small business owners in National City," Mayor Ron Morrison said in a statement to the regional competition judges. "As our city continues to progress, the SDSU SIFE team will play a pivotal role in the development of National City."
Other community outreach efforts focus on entrepreneurship, business ethics and personal finance skills, but business owners aren't the only people benefiting from SIFE's work.
SDSU's SIFE team, which consists of 109 members, has also been actively involved with students at San Diego High School to motivate and encourage them to consider attending college if they haven't already.
"San Diego High School is made up of predominately low-income students who would be the first generation of college students in their family if they come (to college)," said Howard Toole, an SDSU finance professor and one of two SIFE advisers.
Located at the edge of downtown San Diego, SDHS is made up of six "Small Schools," including a school of business, and has a diverse student population of about 3,000.
Campus tours, workshops on ethics, financial know-how and a simulated stock market game that awarded the winner $500 for earning the "highest returns" are a few of the ways SIFE members have engaged students in the world of business while giving them a glimpse at college life.
"It's one way we can create a desire in them to go to college," Toole said.
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