The award-winning organization Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) triumphs again by having recently won a $5,000 grant at the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
This grant, from the John E. & Jeanne T. Hughes Foundation based in Chicago, IL was given to SIFE based on the proposal delivered from SIFE faculty advisor and accounting instructor Saturnino Gonzalez.
“We were the only community college in Texas to get this grant,” said Gonzalez.
According to him, 47 proposals were submitted nationwide and only 26 presented at the San Antonio nationwide event.
EPCC, along with 18 other colleges throughout the country, were awarded funding.
The unique aspect about SIFE’s win is that the conference was held for college representatives, not clubs’ faculty advisors, to apply for these grants.
However, Gonzalez said that he proposed to represent the college and was given permission to do so.
The $5,000 check was handed to Gonzalez at the event, and a separate account was created for the grant and will not mix with SIFE’s club money.
Through this endowment, SIFE at EPCC will be able to conduct entrepreneurship workshops, which are
scheduled to take place this semester and the rest during the 2008-2009 academic year.
“We want for EPCC to take responsibility in educating students about their financial future,” Gonzalez said.
One project that the grant will fund is the participation in the American International Group (AIG) Credit Counseling Challenge, which makes EPCC a distinguishable institution out of 120 other SIFE teams.
The training seminar took place in New York on Feb. 4, which taught SIFE student leaders how to conduct financial workshops.
Topics include student loans, the dangers of using credit unwisely, and how the credit decisions they make today will impact their future.
“You meet new and enjoyable people,” said EPCC student and SIFE member Martha Morales.
Competitions allows EPCC students to meet executives from high profile companies.
“Each day opens new opportunities for me through SIFE,” said secretary Emma Gomez.
