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 and scale fast to transform a country? How do we retain entrepreneurs in cities that need them most?
Endeavor is a non-profit for for-profits. Among the roster of 11 Kravis Prize recipients, its culture of fostering entrepreneurship aligns well with CMC’s culture of leaders in the making and the Changemaker initiative.
This Thursday, come listen to the co-founder and CEO of Endeavor, Linda Rottenberg. For details, see the schedule below. There are many reasons to engage in a conversation with Rottenberg. Her work at Endeavor has proven to be bold, visionary, and crazy; and in Rottenberg’s world of entrepreneurs, crazy is a compliment.
—- Karan Saggi ’14
RELATED INFORMATION
- Panel Discussion on Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship: Reflections from Endeavor Entrepreneurs and Past Kravis Prize Recipients
Thursday, April 23, 2015, 10 – 11:15 a.m.
Freeberg Forum (LC62), Kravis Center at Claremont McKenna College
Panel discussion is open to the public, click here to RSVP
- Linda Rottenberg, CEO & Co-Founder of Endeavor
Thursday, April 23, 2015, 12 – 1 p.m.
Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum at Claremont McKenna College
Presentation is open to the public, click here to RSVP, lunch is not included
