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, Germany 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 Germany, China 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).
- 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.
Key Activities
The program began with a SIFE Capital Markets Training Seminar in each of the three target countries in January and February 2007. Each seminar brought together top SIFE students and faculty advisors (40 students from China and the United States, 20 students from Germany, and 5 faculty members from each of the three countries). The seminars included:
SIFE students and faculty from China, Germany, and the USA are now 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 2 July 2007 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 SIFE donor executives, and the three top projects from each country will be selected.
Two students from each of the winning SIFE teams (nine teams in total) will be invited to New York City to attend an exclusive SIFE Capital Markets Day Sponsored by the Goldman Sachs Foundation in conjunction with the SIFE World Cup in New York City, where students will share their success with one another, tour the financial district, and be recognized by Goldman Sachs for their achievements in capital markets education.
At the conclusion of the program, SIFE will develop an educational resource to highlight the program and showcase the most effective outreach programs for teaching youth about capital markets. This resource, either printed or digital, will be available to all 2,000 SIFE teams as a reference for future capital market projects. The Goldman Sachs Foundation will also have access to the resource to promote capital markets education and best practices.