NEW YORK, Nov. 7, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The CEO of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), an international nonprofit organization that teaches entrepreneurship to youth from low-income communities so they can become economically productive members of society, urged United Nations members to support youth entrepreneurship training as a way of creating higher standards of living for their respective nations.
Michael Caslin's comments to U.N. member nations at a recent luncheon coincided with Prince Charles' visit and statement to the U.N. gathering earlier this week to support youth entrepreneurship education. Prince Charles said, "There is no greater tragedy than unfulfilled potential of young people. Helping young entrepreneurs can help re-build shattered communities. There is an urgent need today to create employment and enterprise opportunities for young people. All of you here today can make a tremendous difference and our partnership is vital."
Mr. Caslin believes that a powerful model for anti-poverty efforts is a human capital development and wealth-creation program approach that currently exists in the NFTE program model. He believes youth entrepreneurship education is a powerful and pragmatic idea whose time has come and this effort will assist in accelerating entrepreneurial economies -- locally, nationally and globally. Over the past 18 years, NFTE has worked to identify 1,400 concepts, code words and behaviors that are used by the business community to create wealth. He said NFTE is dedicated to sharing these insights, practices and the culture of entrepreneurship with underserved young people.
Mr. Caslin was one of several representatives of leading business organizations and advocates for entrepreneurship education to comment at the U.N. event. In addition to various U.N. Missions, UNDP and the U.N. Global Compact Office, other organizations in attendance at the luncheon included: the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, Multi-Lateral Investment Fund, International Business Leaders Forum, Youth Business International, Deutsche Bank, The Economist Magazine, Endeavor Global Inc., Merrill Lynch, Apax Partners, LP, Microsoft Corp., Accenture, The World Bank, HSBC, U.K. Department of Work and Pensions and the U. S. Department of State.
"Our research tells us that entrepreneurially motivated young people are a tremendous untapped national resource. We know that when we help a young person understand powerful wealth creation concepts such as business ownership and the self employment processes offered by our curriculum, they develop hope for the future. This is a way to make the learning process relevant, rigorous and relationship based, with NFTE Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers and Volunteers helping to address the critical needs of our nation concerning numeric and literacy skills. This is family, community and nation building at its entrepreneurial best," said Mr. Caslin.
NFTE's entrepreneurship education program teaches the essential business and entrepreneurship skills needed to start and own a small business, while reinforcing basic academic skills through award winning text curriculum, leading Internet based curriculum-BizTech 2.0 and a rigorous business plan that includes life goal setting, a community philanthropy plan and a 30 page business analysis.
Mr. Caslin said, "NFTE's goal is to give young people the skills and confidence to unlock their true potential and turn their passions and hobbies into small businesses so they can improve their lives, strengthen their families and their communities."
NFTE's program is having a strong and positive impact on many of its graduates. Research conducted by Harvard University Graduate School of Education indicates that youth entrepreneurship training programs such as NFTE are particularly effective at keeping students from low-income urban backgrounds on the academic track and can be a significant force in driving them toward high achievement and leadership.
Further, a study conducted by Brandeis University has shown that when compared to a control group, NFTE graduates are 30 times more likely to start their own businesses, and they are 20 times more knowledgeable about entrepreneurship and basic business concepts.
NFTE's work has been made possible through the support of over 1,000 private sector sponsors including The Goldman Sachs Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, Atlantic Philanthropies, Morgan Stanley Foundation, Multinational Scholar Charitable Trust, NASDAQ Educational Foundation, Weingberg Foundation, Zimmerman Foundation, EM Kauffman Foundation, Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation, Coleman Foundation, Carson Family Charity, Vira I. Heinz Endowment, Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation, Myers Family Foundation, Scaife Family Foundation.
About NFTE
The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, whose mission is to teach entrepreneurship to young people from low-income communities to enhance their economic productivity by improving their business, academic, and life skills. NFTE is headquartered in New York City. The organization reached over 17,000 young people in 2003 and has trained teachers and youth workers in 44 states and 16 countries.