About Endeavor
Founded in 1997, Endeavor fosters economic growth in countries worldwide by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating high-impact entrepreneurs. Endeavor’s entrepreneurs lead fast-growing businesses that generate jobs in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. Endeavor provides its entrepreneurs with a network of seasoned business leaders who provide key ingredients to entrepreneurial success: mentorship, networks, strategic advice, and inspiration. Over the past 17 years, Endeavor Entrepreneurs have created more than 400,000 high quality jobs, directly reaching more than two million people across the world. Endeavor has achieved tangible results, with individuals working for Endeavor companies doubling their income over baseline or previous jobs, and Endeavor companies growing revenue 2.4 times faster than comparable firms over three years.
Current Operations of Endeavor
Endeavor is dedicated to high-impact entrepreneurship. Its main operations focus on identifying and supporting the continued growth of a select group of entrepreneurs, creating jobs, and adding revenues to foster entrepreneurship in those societies. Endeavor currently works in 21 countries across the world. In recent years, Endeavor’s operations have expanded into several countries; Endeavor launched in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Greece in 2012, Miami (US), Malaysia, and Morocco in 2013, and Peru and Spain in 2014.In 2011, Endeavor launched Endeavor Catalyst, a passive co-investment pool that uses donated funds to support Endeavor Entrepreneurs’ professional funding rounds and to provide funding for Endeavor’s growth and financial sustainability. Endeavor Catalyst has raised approximately $15 million to date and has made its first nine investments.
Approach and Distinguishing Features
Endeavor is an organization of, by, and for entrepreneurs. Endeavor believes that entrepreneurship is vital to economic growth and job creation, and recognizes the reality that entrepreneurs in growth markets face obstacles that inhibit successful scaling of businesses, such as limited management expertise, lack of role models, contacts, investors, etc. To this end, Endeavor provides immense support to rising entrepreneurs and acts as a springboard to catalyze their success with business establishment and job creation. Over 80% of Endeavor’s entrepreneurs give back to their local affiliates and commit to mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Endeavor’s entrepreneurs lead fast-growing, typically for-profit businesses that generate jobs and create revenues in growth markets. Endeavor looks for businesses with the potential to scale and become world-class ventures and industry leaders. Endeavor is distinct from many other organizations in its focus on high-growth, high-impact, for-profit companies that can scale. Academic research demonstrates that high-impact entrepreneurs generate a disproportionate number of jobs over other entrepreneurs.
2015 Kravis Prize
m2m’s mission in sync with recent Clinton remarks on AIDS prevention
For Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the key to the successful future treatment and prevention of HIV and AIDS must focus on the most intimate human relationship of all. Mother and child. “We are trying to help countries eliminate mother-to-child transmission,” he told an audience at a world AIDS conference held in Melbourne, Australia, “and this is one of the most exciting goals in public health … and essential to achieving an AIDS-free generation.” Mother-to-child transmission has also been the focus of the work of mothers2mothers, a 2012 recipient of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership, since the organization was founded in 2001. In its efforts to highlight the problem of mother-to-child transmission, the non-profit organization has recently found unexpected allies in the celebrity community, including pop star and fashion designer Victoria Beckham and music producer and musician Ryan Lewis. Beckham spent time with m2m’s founder in South Africa, while Lewis revealed a personal story of his mother’s plight with HIV transmission in a video receiving much media attention. The organization was thrilled to have this issue highlighted by the former president. “Like President Clinton, we at m2m believe that eliminating pediatric AIDS and achieving an AIDS-free generation is possible,” the organization said in a statement. “No one is better placed to address this stigma [of mother-to-child transmission] than the Mentor Mothers” which is a hallmark of m2m’s work. In addition to Clinton’s remarks, the issue was also highlighted at the AIDS conference by several m2m members who served as conference participants. Details of m2m’s participation at the Melbourne conference is described on the m2m website. RELATED: Visit...Webinar Focuses on How Nonprofits Can Make Mission Matter
“Mission creep” is a pervasive and extremely debilitating problem that afflicts all too many nonprofit organizations. According to presenters Kim Starkey Jonker and William F. Meehan III, it is the No. 1 reason why nonprofits fail to achieve the impact for beneficiaries that they desire. Yet mission creep is easily preventable and easily curable. By attacking it head-on, nonprofit leaders can not only prevent suboptimal performance, but also open the way to taking on outsized challenges. Learn how to take your organization to a higher level by joining Jonker and Meehan—along with guest presenter Sakena Yacoobi—for a discussion of organizational mission. In this webinar, Jonker and Meehan will expand on their Stanford Social Innovation Review articles “Mission Matters Most” and “Curbing Mission Creep.” Jonker and Meehan will discuss the countless external and internal pressures that cause mission creep, and they will present tools for counteracting these pressures. Recognizing that mission statements are one of the most useful (but most underused) tools available to any nonprofit, Jonker and Meehan will also outline seven characteristics of an effective mission statement. In addition, they will discuss ways to build a mission-focused organizational culture. Webinar registrants will have the opportunity to ask Jonker, Meehan, and Yacoobi questions during the last 20 minutes of the webinar, which will be moderated by Michael Slind, senior editor of SSIR. This complimentary webinar is for anyone in the social sector—nonprofit management and staff, board members, funders—anyone who seeks to create, support, and grow an organization that can align its mission with its efforts to increase impact for beneficiaries. Thanks to the generosity of the Henry R. Kravis...