A movement that just keeps growing

Fighting the good fight

[Reprinted from Issues & Views July 23, 2001]

In the Summer 1989 edition, and again in Fall 1991, Issues & Views described the work of Steve Mariotti, founder of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). In the 1980s, as a successful young businessman in New York City (a self-described typical Yuppie), a series of events focused his attention on the city's social problems. Moved by a desire to get more involved, he decided to liquidate his small company and accept what he thought would be a brief teaching stint in the public school system.

Influenced by this experience and by the writings of particular economists, Mariotti decided that business itself could be a catalyst for preventing a lot of anti-social behavior, especially among those considered by many to be society's big time losers--the inner city "minority" youngster. In a 1989 talk at Hillsdale College, he explained what he had learned: "I found that what I did best was to teach them my own craft, that is, the craft of starting and maintaining a small business."

Using his own money, and starting in the South Bronx, he set about devising methods to teach the basics of free enterprise to pre-teens and teenagers. Mariotti was sure that the proper education would make legitimate business more appealing than the alternatives offered in the streets, and that he could turn out skilled entrepreneurs.

From those modest beginnings, NFTE not only has turned out thousands of young business owners, but also has spearheaded a unique education movement that is catching on all around the country. In partnership with academic institutions, which include Yale, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon and Stanford universities, NFTE trains and certifies prospective teachers of its 50-lesson curriculum. Mariotti once told of his vision to see entrepreneurship taught as a regular subject in the public schools. This year, NFTE began a collaboration with Columbia University's Teachers College, where Education students will learn the specialized techniques of teaching entrepreneurship.

Today, with the help of volunteers from every field of business, who advise and support, NFTE opens many doors of opportunity. Young people, whose backgrounds do not prepare them to think in entrepreneurial ways are exposed to a hands-on and in-depth introduction to the world of business. There are now Summer BizCamps, where the NFTE curriculum is taught, a BizTech website for teachers, and branches of the NFTE program in over a dozen cities.

To learn more, see National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

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