By Angelica Lanfranconi
During the week of July 31 to August 4, I attended the Free Enterprise Leadership Conference. This experience was entirely virtual, which allowed me to participate all the way from Italy. I learned so much during this conference, both through guest speakers and through hands-on activities. During the conference, the students were split up into teams 6-10 people, with each group having a counselor to guide us through the activities. Each team created a company from scratch, going from electing a board of directors, to creating a business plan, to presenting our products to “investors” (the staff of the company). FELC not only taught me about what it really takes to build a business, but also about how to be an effective leader, how to work in a team, and about how the free enterprise system can reduce poverty. The conference was so much fun, and it was a great opportunity for me to see if business and economics could be one of my career aspirations, as I didn’t have much prior experience. The week was very well balanced between hands-on activities, student presentations, and professional guest speakers. One thing that I especially appreciated was that each student was able to play to their strengths, with some members of the team giving speeches, others in charge of debates, and others preparing visual presentations. Thank you to ILF for providing me with such an amazing growth opportunity.