BURNABY – Among individual of Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) SFU winners, an Indo-Canadian strudent won a top prize.
Sonam Swarup, a third-year communication student and SIFE-SFU director of community development, was named the 2012 HSBC Woman Leader of Tomorrow for Western Canada during the weekend ACE (Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship) Canada western regional competition held in Vancouver.
A SIF-run program that helps low income women to eat healthy on a smart budget was also a winner .
In its first year the Hunger Actions program has helped 52 low-income women in Surrey and Vancouver learn how to develop and implement food budgets based on savings and good nutrition.
Students Lynn Shinto and Kimberly Nguyen-Don highlighted the development of the free, four-week program, led by students, a trio of volunteer dietitians and women who return as mentors. They estimate the project has saved the women participants more than $23,000 overall on their food budgets.
The winning team of Shinto and Nguyen-Don now moves on to the national competition in Calgary in May.
SIFE Simon Fraser was also a runner-up in the TD SIFE Entrepreneurship Challenge for their Bright Ideas and Student Entrepreneur of the Year (SEY) programs. Through these, the team empowered 28 high school students to create social initiatives that impacted 650 individuals and provided over $20,000 in resources to 11 SFU entrepreneurs.
Matias Marquez, co-founder of Buyatab Inc. and SFU’s Student Entrepreneur of the Year 2011 winner secured the title of Student Entrepreneur Western Regional Champion. Both also move on to the national competition.
