A look at ourselves, our stories and the next generation of young entrepreneurs and business leaders... Founded in 1987 by Steve Mariotti, a former business owner and New York City public high school teacher, the mission of NFTE is to provide entrepreneurship education programs to youth from low-income communities. Our vision is that every young person will find a pathway to prosperity. As a math teacher in the South Bronx, Mariotti first established NFTE as a literacy and dropout prevention program for at-risk youth when he noticed that many of his students who could not read or write and had essentially been “written off” by the system, demonstrated a natural talent for entrepreneurship. Further, he discovered that his “troubled” students had skills that, if fostered, could benefit them in business and in life. These insights led him to formalize an entrepreneurship curriculum and establish NFTE as a way to introduce concepts of wealth creation and ownership to low-income young people worldwide. NFTE uses entrepreneurship as a vehicle to engage students in school, expose them to the market economy and help them to create an entrepreneurial mindset in order to remain competitive in the increasingly global marketplace. NFTE believes that schools must provide students with opportunities outside the classroom to realize their academic, social, and economic potential. By fostering learning connected to student interests and to life outside the school, NFTE provides students with tools for future success. This slidedeck is Steve's story, you might see some of your own families' story here, and much about the hopes and aspirations we all have for the next generation.

1. YOUR STORY… OUR STORY

2. We’ve all arrived here through different means…

3. “ I was born in the US and am a third generation…”

4. “… my grandparents came to this country on a boat …”

5. “… my father escaped here when he was 18…”

6. “… my great grandmother left her brothers and sisters to come here …”

7. “ I was the first in my family to…”

8. But the reasons for living here have always been the same

9. ‘ Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ for all... …

10. For our nation’s youth to get a good education …

11. To have opportunities our families didn’t have

12. Our families made sacrifices …

13. They saved … They built futures…

14. Sound familiar ?

15. We all have a story of how we became who we are…

16. This is His -story --- a traumatic experience that ignited a movement

17. One day a man who owned a business was beaten on the street for $10

18. He lay in his hospital bed and wondered

19. Why such violence over a few dollars …?

20. He decided not to live in fear … but to find answers by visiting classrooms in tough schools

21. He soon discovered kids in public schools were not learning basic skills

22. … not learning how to make it in the economy

23. He felt he could reach these young people…

24. He sold his company

25. Became a public school teacher in the South Bronx

26. His students would ask him how he made money before teaching?

27. He shared how he imported shoes for $5.00 a pair --

28. and sold them to wholesalers for a gross profit of $3

29. Two of his students, Josephine R. and Edwin B., wondered if they could start businesses too?

30. Steve Mariotti…their teacher , realized that somehow learning to make money

31. Engaged his students in school more than anything else he taught

32. He built an 80- hour program to teach his students what he knew about owning a business

33. The curriculum also improved reading, writing, math, and public speaking skills

34. All based around real-world business knowledge

35. Steve decided each student could start their own business to learn concepts of “ownership” and financial literacy

36. He gave each student $50 each to ‘buy low’ at NY wholesale district and ‘sell high’

37. All of Steve’s students became Presidents of their own companies that year (Josephine made 10k selling clothes)

38. … and began their entrepreneurial stories with a new self-perception and a feeling of new-found freedom

39. Steve went on to found The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (WWW.NFTE.COM)

40. He started with 18 youth in the South Bronx

41. TO DATE 220,000 youth in 13 countries have gone through NFTE’s program to date

42. Studies from Harvard and Brandeis on NFTE show that students are more engaged in school, read more independently and have a significantly higher desire to go to college

43. On a recent Gallop poll 9:10 high school students said they wanted to start their own business

44. In a time when 1:3 youth drop out of high school and often feel disengaged

45. Shouldn’t we be teaching our children the AMER- I-CAN Dream!

46. “ My Dream is not to Die in Poverty, but have Poverty Die in Me!” - NFTE graduate Michelle A.

47. Vision NFTE envisions a nation where every young person will find a pathway to prosperity.

48. What stories will these young people tell their children one day? “ freedom” “ ownership” “ education” “ proud” “ college”

51. www.nfte.com WHAT WE DO - http://www.nfte.com/whatwedo/ OUR IMPACT- http://www.nfte.com/impact/ OUR LOCATIONS- http://www.nfte.com/locations/ GETTING INVOLVED- http://www.nfte.com/donate/ Prepared by Julie Kantor, VP Government Affairs [email_address] and Amy Rosen, NFTE CEO and Dusty Kluttz. Photos courtesy of freefoto.com