Apr 21, 2015 | Endeavor, Kravis Prize
Listening to Fernando Fabre at a recent Athenaeum event offers a sneak peek into the power and potential of entrepreneurship and social impact. Fabre is the President of Endeavor, the recipient of the 2015 Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonprofit Leadership. Endeavor identifies and supports high-impact entrepreneurs whose work creates jobs and pumps revenue into emerging and growth markets. Under the roof of Endeavor, entrepreneurs are exposed to mentorship, networks, strategic advice, and inspiration. In return, these entrepreneurs launch their own businesses and create lasting impact in the job market. Fabre’s Athenaeum talk focused on what makes the Endeavor formula work. Endeavor acts as a catalyst in empowering entrepreneurs to create high impact in their business markets. More important, Endeavor bridges entrepreneurial initiatives through networks. What starts off with two or three entrepreneurs proliferates into a network of hundreds of entrepreneurs who support and mentor each other to create new businesses, more jobs, and even more connections. In addition to providing insight into Endeavor’s operations, Fabre also showed us the current landscape of the entrepreneurial sector. Endeavor faces many challenges in launching entrepreneurs. For example, there is a prevailing gap in revenue generation in growth markets. Nearly 90% of companies in Mexico generate only 10% of total revenue. On the other hand, Endeavor also has advantages in the present world of entrepreneurs. Small businesses and enterprises are on the rise. In New York City, for instance, 85% of tech firms were created in the last 10 years. Endeavor responds to two big-picture questions: How can entrepreneurs scale big... read more
Mar 31, 2015 | Kravis Prize
Endeavor, an organization devoted to supporting and catalyzing entrepreneurial projects around the globe, has been selected as the recipient of the 2015 Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonprofit Leadership. In a statement released earlier today, the organization (which works in some 22 countries to assist entrepreneurs in stimulating local economies) was hailed by the Kravis Prize Selection Committee for providing the catalyst behind countless community ventures such as Beleza Natural salons, which is employing and empowering countless women in Brazil (see photo above). “Endeavor is a perfect example of a nonprofit that has significant influence on the ground and great success creating a sustainable ecosystem for future impact,” said Henry R. Kravis, an alumnus and trustee of the College who is co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., and founder of the Kravis Prize. Visit here to read more about today’s announcement of the 2015 recipient of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonfprofit... read more
Mar 31, 2015 | Award Ceremony, CMC, Endeavor
10th Annual Kravis Prize – the Nobel for nonprofits – recognizes Endeavor for helping build companies generating 400,000 jobs in challenged economies around the world CLAREMONT, Calif., March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — When Javier Okhuysen and Carlos Orellana wanted to help prevent avoidable blindness in Mexico through state-of-the art, low-cost cataract surgery and eye care, they turned to Endeavor to help develop their business, salaUno. When Leila Velez sought help to grow her afro-Brazilian hair care business, Endeavor provided her with the necessary business tools and mentoring to realize her dream. Today Beleza Natural operates a chain of 24 salons and employs over 1,000 women. And when Sugianto Tandio determined his mission was to solve the waste and pollution problems that Indonesia faces, Endeavor afforded him access to a network of experts, helping to turn his company, Tirta Marta, into a leader in next generation eco-friendly plastics using Indonesia’s natural resources. In recognition for its revolutionary work to provide support and mentorship to high-impact entrepreneurs such as Javier, Leila, and Sugianto, as well as some 1,000 others from 22 countries on five continents (including, most recently, two US cities), who in turn have stimulated local economies through the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs, Endeavor has been named the recipient of the 10th Annual Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonprofit Leadership. The Kravis Prize is among the world’s most prestigious awards for nonprofit leadership, akin to a Nobel geared specifically to this sector. Endeavor will receive the Kravis Prize and $250,000 award on April 23, 2015 at Claremont McKenna College as part of a special celebration of the Prize’s... read more
Mar 26, 2015 | Education, FAWE, Female Empowerment, MasterCard Foundation
What career paths do young African girls have? For many across Sub-Saharan Africa, opportunities have been limited primarily to a life spent in poverty in the roles of mother and wife. But the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) is working with The MasterCard Foundation to increase educational chances for girls in villages across the continent. The 2008 recipient of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonprofit Leadership, Fawe’s efforts (since its founding in 1992) have included an ongoing partnership with The MasterCard Foundation Scholar Program to provide scholarships in some of the neediest countries, such as Rwanda, and now that partnership is extending its support to Ethiopia with a new scholarship program. According to an announcement by Fawe, the MCF Scholars Program has been launched this month in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and will provide comprehensive scholarship packages to some 800 young students. While Fawe has impacted the lives of an estimated 24 million school-age African girls over the past 23 years, the organization’s work with the MCF extends to school children of both genders as a way of improving the general welfare of all people in these towns and villages. The 800 Ethiopian awards will go to 600 girls and 200 boys as a part of the NGO’s mission to promote “gender equity and equality in Africa by fostering positive policies, practices, and attitudes towards girls’ education” by extending opportunities to all members of their communities. To read more about FAWE, visit the Kravis Prize... read more
Mar 10, 2015 | Johann Olav Koss, Right 2 Play
In late 1993, just a few months before the opening ceremonies of the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, a young speed skater by the name of Johann Olav Koss led a humanitarian trip to the small African country of Eritrea. Working as an ambassador of the organization Olympic Aid (later to become Right To Play), the Norwegian athlete found himself face-to-face with the realities of life in a country emerging from decades of war. As children played amidst burned-out tanks, under the watchful eyes of war martyrs exalted in surrounding posters and murals, it was one boy who crystallized the epiphany for Johann that would inspire the future of Right To Play. “I met a group of boys, who were about 12 years old, and one of them was very popular,” says Johann. “I asked, ‘Why are you so popular?’ and he said, ‘Can’t you see? I have long sleeves.’ ” The boy then took off his shirt, rolled it up, and, using the sleeves to tie a knot, he turned the shirt into a ball that they used to play in the streets. The game ended when it was time for the boy with the long sleeves to go home. Traumatized, these children had lost family and friends to the violence, and yet, surrounded by a legacy of war, they only wanted one thing: the opportunity to play. Johann promised the boys he would return after the Olympics with a proper ball for them to play with, and in that experience the idea that would become Right To Play was born. RELATED Visit here to learn more about Right To... read more
