A pair of Okanagan School of Business students flew to Calgary for the national SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) competition, and came back winners.
Jonathan Gardner and Monika Jassi were among a contingent of students from all four Okanagan College campuses that competed in this year’s ACE (Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship) National Exposition.
Gardner was honoured along with his teammates with a top-five national finish among 50 teams. He is in his final year of his Bachelor of Business degree and is the outgoing SIFE Okanagan vice-president for the Vernon campus.
Jassi, a second-year business student majoring in marketing, and her teammates claimed second place in the Capital One SIFE Financial Education Challenge, finishing behind Toronto’s Ryerson University.
“I’m proud of the opportunity our students have to be a part of a challenge of this magnitude and to witness their accomplishments,” said Garth Maguire, faculty advisor and business professor at the Vernon campus.
“Their commitment to their community, the skills they demonstrated, both on and off the national stage, as well as their achievements at the competition demonstrate the talents our students have developed through their business training and the SIFE program.”
Since getting involved in SIFE Okanagan, Jassi has taken part as project manager of the Green Business Awards in the Vernon campus, as well as the Let’s Can Hunger project. She was honoured with the Top Executive Member of the Year for the Vernon campus.
Overall, Okanagan College finished sixth in the Scotiabank SIFE Green Challenge, and eighth in the TD SIFE Entrepreneurship competition.
More than 100 students from all four Okanagan College campuses are involved in SIFE Okanagan working on more than 14 projects a year.
For more information about SIFE Okanagan, contact school of business at 250-762-5445, ext 4701.
