Considering the relevant social, economic and environmental factors, we aim to effectively empower people in need by applying business and economic concepts and an entrepreneurial approach to improve people’s quality of life and standard of living.
Five basic elements of our projects:
a) Identifying a need
b) Triple bottom line – social, environmental, economic factors
c) Empowerment
d) Teaching/Knowledge Transfer of business skills
e) Measurable & sustainable impact
a. Who are “people in need?”
• Broadly interpreted to represent any potential group so long as they are clearly lacking in the particular focus area of the team’s project, which is deemed to be significant and relevant to SIFE’s mission
• Audiences are not limited to simply the poor, disadvantaged, marginalized in society, underprivileged, and/or economically challenged
• A key evaluation is the team’s ability to illustrate the need(s) of the target group(s) they worked with and why they chose to address those needs
b. What are “relevant economic, social and environmental factors?”
• These three factors are in reference to the triple bottom line concept, (i.e. profits, people, planet) and are meant to illustrate that for a project or initiative to truly be effective and sustainable it must make sense economically as well as socially and environmentally
• Due consideration must be given to the three factors although one or more may have greater relevance in particular circumstances
• To the degree that any of the three factors are relevant to a situation, they should be addressed in an integrated manner as part of the project rather than as separate activities
c. How are people “effectively empowered?”
• By equipping them with the knowledge, skills and/or confidence to move from dependency to self-determination and independence
• By involving them in collaboration and focusing on long-term capacity building
d. What is “applying business and economic concepts and an entrepreneurial approach?”
• ‘Business and economic concepts’ is an integrated point clarifying the broad range of activities that can be delivered as project solutions, including all SIFE Topics from the most recent judging criteria and much more
• ‘Business and economic concepts’ should result in the creation of economic opportunities through the application of a business mindset to the project process, content and delivery
• ‘Entrepreneurial approach’ speaks to the manner in which projects are developed and delivered, not necessarily a call to create entrepreneurial ventures
• ‘Entrepreneurial approach’ should result in the demonstration of ‘creativity, innovation and an entrepreneurial culture’ through the SIFE team’s efforts
e. What is considered “quality of life and standard of living?”
• Quality of Life – refers to non-material aspects: the social, cultural and emotional circumstances of an individual or target group
• Standard of Living – refers to material aspects: the physical, financial and environmental circumstances of an individual or target group
• Improvement of status should be illustrated through the team’s achievement of outcomes (not just outputs, plans or aspirations) that resulted in benefit or betterment of the target group(s)
