2008 Overview

SIFE has been awarded a one year grant from the Goldman Sachs Foundation to fund a Capital Markets program that will train SIFE teams in China, France and the United States to teach high school students in their local communities concepts related to capital markets and capital formation.

Objectives

  • To train a select group of university students in the concepts of capital markets and market formation, thereby empowering them to deliver that knowledge to members of their communities.
  • To select key faculty champions from the target countries to participate in the seminars and champion the initiative within their countries.
  • To challenge SIFE teams in China, France and the United States to develop and deliver focused capital markets education programs to secondary school students.
  • To build an understanding of global capital markets and multicultural awareness.
  • To measure the capital markets educational impact of the SIFE teams' projects on targeted high school students (to be completed by each team as part of the project).

Key Activities

The program began with a SIFE Capital Markets Training Seminar in each of the three target countries in October and December 2008. Each seminar brought together top SIFE students and faculty advisors (45 students from China and the United States, 10 students from France, and up to 5 faculty members from each of the three countries). The seminars included:

  • Discussion of core content of capital markets and market economics by keynote presenters
  • Sharing of program ideas and market economic projects.
  • Discussion of delivery methodologies among the university students to teach high school youth.
  • Hands-on participation in case studies and/or simulation activities.
  • Peer-networking for faculty and student participants.

At the end of each seminar, SIFE students and faculty from China, France, and the USA were challenged and empowered through competition to bring their learning back to their communities, to share with the other members of their teams, and to develop an innovative and creative program to teach high school students about capital markets. Teams will have until April 2009 to develop and implement the program, at which time they will submit an impact report to SIFE. The programs will be judged by SIFE staff, in consultation with Goldman Sachs representatives, and the top five projects from each country will be selected.

Two students from each of the winning SIFE teams (fifteen teams in total) will be invited to New York City to attend an exclusive Capital Markets Summit, where students will share their success with one another, tour the financial district, and be recognized by the Goldman Sachs Foundation for their achievements in capital markets education. This final event will include a competitive element - teams will present the results of their projects to Goldman Sachs and other company executives who will select the top three teams.