The Notre Dame chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) will participate in a regional competition in Chicago today, its first as an official Student Activities Office (SAO) club, senior Caitlin Nichols, co-president of SIFE, said.
SIFE is an international, non-profit organization that works to mobilize college students to make a difference in their communities, while developing skills to help members become socially responsible business leaders.
Nichols said the team has been involved in seven different projects this year and will present four of those projects at the regional competition.
"Some of them are SIFE stand alone projects, such as raising awareness about the local Purple Porch Co-op to the Notre Dame community, or the Global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Luncheon, which raised awareness about several companies' CSR strategies," she said.
The club has also partnered with the Holy Half Marathon and Bengal Bouts to assist in their fundraising strategies and spread awareness of the projects at the regional competition, Nichols said.
"We've had several meetings this month preparing our scripts that we are memorizing that tell the judges about our projects," she said. "We also have put together a PowerPoint to accompany our 24-minute presentation and an annual report summing up what we have done."
Nichols said the group is optimistic about their performance at this year's event, where they will compete against 80 other teams.
"Last year we received the Regional Champion and Rookie of the Year titles," she said. "We're really hoping to receive the Regional Champion title again."
If named regional champions, the group will move on to the national competition in May.
Students interested in joining Notre Dame's SIFE team may contact Nichols or co-president Lauren Sullivan.
"We are always looking for new members and new project ideas," Nichols said.
