Steve Mariotti, Founder & President of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) is an expert in education for at-risk youth. For more than 20 years, he has been helping young people develop marketable skills by learning about entrepreneurship.
Steve Mariotti received an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan and has studied at Harvard University, Stanford University, and Brooklyn College. His professional career began by serving as a Treasury Analyst for Ford Motor Co. (1976-79). He then founded Mason Import/Export Services in New York, eventually acting as sales representative and purchasing agent for 32 overseas firms. In 1982, he made a significant career change and became a Special Education/Business Teacher in the New York City school system, choosing to teach in notorious neighborhoods such as Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and the "Fort Apache" section of the South Bronx. It was at Jane Addams Vocational High School in the Bronx that he developed the insight and inspiration to bring entrepreneurial education to low-income youth. This led to founding the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) in 1987.