Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) is an international nonprofit organization. Matea Rajic, president of the SIFE chapter on Eastern’s campus, said “SIFE strives to impact and educate students about the positive power of business –
what profit can do besides just fulfill oneself.”
With 40 members, Eastern’s SIFE chapter is small in comparison to those of larger universities. However, numbers don’t stop from making a large impact. It has worked on about 20 projects over the past two semesters and seeks to impact the wider world through international projects, such as last semester’s trip to South Africa and current work in El Salvador.
The organization’s efforts are getting noticed. EU SIFE won the Regional SIFE Competition in late March. The group presented on its work with Philadelphia’s Blankenburg Elementary school where it works with several students on a weekly basis, teaching them about entrepreneurship, business and the life values that go along with them, such as discipline and character. Rajic explained that these students are encouraged to help the community and try to change it by giving back.
EU SIFE competed against other universities’ SIFE Chapters from Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In the competition, as Rajic explained, groups were judged on criteria such as the hours dedicated to their project, money earned to implement it, the number of people impacted through their work and how the group functions as a whole.
“I am very proud to be a member of SIFE,” Rajic said, “we really challenge ourselves to see what we can do.”
The next stop in the competition is Nationals, to be held in Minneapolis from May 10-12.