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Students in Free Enterprise, otherwise known as SIFE, is a remarkable KPMG-supported initiative,
which has been recently launched in Ireland.
SIFE unlocks the great potential of third-level students – working along with business leaders
around the world – to make a difference in their local communities, while at the same
time developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders.
SIFE in Ireland is also supported by Arthur ***, Chartis, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, The Ireland
Funds, KBC Bank, McDonald’s and Unileaver, and has been launched with the generous involvement
of Gibney Communications, The Irish Times and Senator Feargal Quinn.
I think it's really, really exciting to see young people being so innovative and come
up with these great ideas.
I just think it's a fantastic opportunity for engaging business and students together
to make a difference in the world to help the communities.
I think SIFE is an excellent competition in so far as it draws on people's skills and
helps people develop skills in economic, social, and environmental areas. That can really help
the youth of today implement their vision for change and their vision for a better Ireland.
In Ireland, four universities are already involved in SIFE: Trinity, Dublin City University,
UCD and NUI Galway.
We're actually doing a module in UCD Service Learning and it's about social entrepreneurship,
so we're actually doing a project right now developing an enterprise curriculum for students
in Uganda.
Students and faculty advisers from each university have undergone training and they are now working
on projects that will be presented at a national competition on May 29th. The winning SIFE
Ireland team will be selected to represent Ireland at the SIFE World Cup in Washington
this autumn.
I'm pretty interested to see what sort of projects they come out with.
It's going to be nerve racking, we have work to do on it but it will be very exciting.
KPMG has been involved in SIFE in the US since 1990 and has played a pivotal role in helping
SIFE go global. Today, KPMG supports SIFE in over 30 countries around the world.