Venture Partner Recognition Award – Bailey McRae

Bailey McRae

Connect with Bailey on Linkedin

Born In Langley, BC, Bailey McRae has been involved in her community for 21 years. She came to BCIT In September and is working towards her Diploma in Marketing Management in the Entrepreneurship option. Bailey has been involved in SIFE since she began at BCIT. She worked with the Lion’s Lair Project as a mentor; with Spring Living Fair as the online promotions department and is a first year liaison. As well, Bailey works on the social media sites for the BCIT School of Business. Always enthusiastic and willing to lend a hand wherever needed, SIFE BCIT is pleased to present Bailey with a Venture Partner Recognition Award.

Even with her busy schedule, Bailey was able to answer a few questions for us.

What made you choose BCIT?

I chose BCIT because my dad went here years ago. Also I wanted to take marketing management and BCIT is like a band aid, hurts only for a bit (about 2 years)

What have you learned about yourself as you’ve been a student at BCIT?

That I can stay up for days on end with a bit of caffeine.

What, in your experience, motivates your best, most successful performance?

Seeing the opportunities to make a difference in my community.

How did you become interested in SIFE?

Day one of starting BCIT I knew that I wanted to be very active at school. This meant joining a student organization, and that choose was SIFE because of their professional image and opportunities for hands on experience they presented.

What keeps you interested through the difficult workload at BCIT?

Knowing that one day it will end, and that professor mugs is always open.

What’s your dream job when you graduate?

Being in entrepreneurship, I want to start my own company while also working and building up a small NGO in Vancouver.

What do you envision yourself doing in 10 years?

Successfully running an NGO nationally (either my own or joining an organization).

Finish this sentence..

You will find me most days..In the rix, finishing projects last minute or living off of the chai tea lattes.

My favorite animals are…My two border collies, who are unfortunately at my parents house in Langley.

This summer I will be… Cruising the sea wall on my new bike, hopefully getting a job and playing tennis.

My favorite drink is a…Depending on the day, I’ll order a Long Island, please!

I am listening to…. Rolling in the Deep.. not the Adele version, the John Legend Remix.

Favorite Teacher…Matt Rockall, Business communications teacher. By far the most supportive.

My favorite hot spot in Vancouver is…The Eatery, its weird yet delicious sushi. Need to go more.

SIFE BCIT wins EMBERS 2010 Rising Stars Student Recognition Award

SIFE BCIT has formed a strong relationship with EMBERS (Eastside Movement for Business & Economic Renewal Society) through the Lions Lair initiative.  By mentoring a select group of social entrepreneurs on their path to achieve hope and self-sufficiency for themselves and others within their community, the SIFE BCIT team received a recognition award for not only making a difference within the lives of these aspiring entrepreneurs but also within the community. Some the teams they competed against includes SFU, UBC, and UBC’s Sauder School of Business.

BCIT Student Team Earns Top Honours For Financial Education Efforts

From acecanada.ca

Local students named regional champions by showing young Canadians how to plan a sustainable financial future

Toronto, ON (March 17, 2011) – BCIT’s Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) team has been named the 2011 SIFE Financial Education Challenge Regional Champion by national charitable organization Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship (ACE). SIFE is a team based program that encourages post secondary students to address relevant economic, social and environmental issues by empowering others to improve their quality of life and standard of living.

“This award helps bring awareness to what we are actively doing in our community and proves to everyone involved that our activities are worth it and we are making a difference,” explains Jessica Agur, SIFE Team President.

Student teams from across Western Canada showcased their financial education-focused projects to panels of industry professionals on March 14, 2011. The SIFE team from BCIT stood out to the judges because of their dedication to teaching others the basics of financial literacy in their own community.

One of the team’s newest projects is called Save It Forward. The student team is partnering with the Financial Management Association to empower young Canadians with the tools to lower their personal debt and to plan for a sustainable financial future. First, the team is implementing a series of four personal financial literacy clinics, led by both students and experts in the financial field. Second, the participants take what they have learned from the clinics and transfer this knowledge to a friend. In the final phase, students will submit a detailed description of how they plan to implement their financial education for a chance to win prize money for their own saving. In the next few years, SIFE BCIT plans to expand this project to reach students at other universities and young families struggling to manage their finances effectively.

“With over 26,000 community participants impacted by SIFE team financial education projects across Canada last year, we are proud to continue this national challenge that effectively provides others with the skills to make informed and positive financial decisions,” explains Amy Harder, ACE President. “Through our SIFE teams’ accomplishments, ACE is ensuring the future of our country is in good hands – today and tomorrow.

The end goal of this annual challenge is for SIFE teams to help improve the ability of others in their community to make informed and positive financial decisions. Teams have been provided the necessary tools and training from ACE to develop and implement their extensive projects. The BCIT student team will now move on to the national level of competition taking place on May 10th at the 2011 ACE National Exposition in Toronto, ON.

About ACE

ACE is a national, charitable organization that is teaching and igniting young Canadians to create brighter futures for themselves and their communities. ACE delivers a team-based program called Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) and an individual-based program, Student Entrepreneur. ACE students created 540 jobs, logged 273,000 volunteer hours and directly impacted 114,000 people in the past year alone. In the past three years, students have generated over $80,000,000 in economic opportunity. ACE is currently established on over 55 post-secondary campuses across Canada.
Contact:
Jaime Szegvary
Communications Consultant, ACE
416.619.8994
jaime@acecanada.ca

Marlene Romero
Student, SIFE BCIT
778.987.7300
cmromero.85@gmail.com

Ivo Dator wins SIFE BCIT Venture Partner Recognition Award

Ivo Dator

Connect with Ivo: Website | LinkedIn | Twitter @ivodee | Blog

When he is not studying, or at work as a lifeguard at the Surrey Pool, or working on his website, Ivo Dator is working on projects for SIFE BCIT. Ivo is in charge of media for the Let’s Can Hunger project. In this role, he has garnered international recognition for his creative videos which are designed to raise awareness of hunger related issues in Canada. Ivo is also a part of the sponsorship committee, where he was part of a team that created the design template for the sponsorship package and compiled lists of prospects.

Who inspires you?

Hard workers.

What gets you up for the 7am SIFE meetings?

The opportunity to connect with and get inspired by future leaders who do amazing things.

What can we expect from you next year?

I’ll be launching a new website. I won’t plug it here but you can check out my personal website and connect with me at http://ivordator.com. I’ll also be in second year taking care of business and crushing it with new projects and opportunities that come my way.

Where will you be in 5 years?

In 2016, I will have 3 websites under a company I’m currently developing. I will also finally decide to sky dive – yes, it will take me 5 years to get over my fear of sky diving.

What are your plans for the summer?

I will be travelling down south, teach swimming lessons part-time and in July I will launch a website. I’m also going to Grow Conference in August which I’m pretty excited about!

If you won the lottery what is the first thing you would do?

That’s a tough question to answer. I’m not really a materialistic guy so I don’t know if you’d see me purchasing a Maserati. I’d have to think about that. Maybe a Supersized McMeal? I don’t know. All I know is that my first purchase would make a huge impact on my life and the lives of others.

Finish this sentence “I am proud that I…..”

am able to work alongside hard workers, word changers and forward thinkers in SIFE and within the classroom.

How do you find balance between school/sife/work?

I plan ahead and catch up with sleep on the weekends.

Adam Pospisil Receives SIFE BCIT Venture Partner Recognition Award

“Adam is one of the most inspiring and selfless leaders I know! Adam’s hard work and dedication are so inspiring that working with him makes you want to work harder yourself. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Adam in SIFE BCIT’s Lion’s Lair Project.”
- Marlene Romero, VP Operations, SIFE BCIT

“Adam has been a part of Lions Lair since its beginning, and brought a wealth of experience to this years initiative.  As the Workshop Coordinator, he helped support the teams by ensuring they had all the resources they needed to execute their workshops successfully.  With a high degree of professionalism and a infectiously positive attitude, he emulated the quintessence of Lions Lair, an interest to care and see that others succeed. It was a pleasure working with Adam and I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”
- Emilija Kolar, Project Manager, SIFE BCIT Lions Lair Project

“Adam has been a catalyst to the development of the “Lion’s Lair” business presentation program. He has worked extremely hard to ensure that the content of each workshop is beneficial to the participating entrepreneurs. He leads by example, producing quality work and following through on his responsibilities. He has been a pleasure to work with and would be an asset to any company.”
- Brent Charleton, President (2009-2010), SIFE BCIT

Venture Partner Recognition Award

Adam has shown  an unwavering three year commitment to SIFE BCIT and to the Lion’s Lair Program. After completing his Marketing Management Diploma in Professional Sales he has continued on this year to complete his Bachelors of Business Administration. Adam recalls originally joining SIFE to better his resume, but soon found that it was no longer the reason he was doing it, and that making a difference and motivating others around him to do the same became more important.

Adam said he was first attracted to the Lion’s Lair SIFE project by the idea of having the opportunity to teach to others the business skills that he has learned at BCIT. Adam has enjoyed the experience of working to help organize and execute two greatly successful years of Lions Lair projects, and hopes to continue with the new youth series this spring. He has enjoyed the opportunity to learn from my peers and participants in the Lions Lair project, as everyone brings unique knowledge to the team. Adam believes in lifelong learning and that we all have something to teach each other. Adam also worked in the honour house program last year, and enjoyed the opportunity to work with a number of Canadian forces members on interviews to assist in returning to school, or becoming employed in civilian life. He said he was motivated to do this by the opportunity to give back to the men and women who have given so much for our country.

The quote that inspires him to continue his work with SIFE is “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”  – Mahatma Gandhi; as it reminds him that though the projects we complete at SIFE may seem small in comparison to world issues, the drive to make change is where it all starts.

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Emilija Kolar Receives SIFE BCIT Venture Partner Recognition Award

“Emilija is an outstanding leader. She has the natural ability to to inspire and motivate her team. She recognizes and appreciates the efforts of everybody’s contributions, never taking full credit, but always always attributing the success of Lions Lair to her team. Emilija leads by example and her passion for this project is contagious.”
- Meghan Dimma

“Having worked with Emilija for the past 3 months, I can confidently say that Emilija has been the constant driving force for my success within Lions Lair. She provides great motivation in daily activities and relevant insight into any questions that my arise. It has been a pleasure working with her and look forward to working with Emilija in the future.”
- Rhys Thow

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