NEW YORK, April 3, 2013 (ANTARA/PRNewswire) --

An intriguing yet pragmatic partnership for educating emerging entrepreneurs is being formed with Mara Foundation and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). Together these organizations pledge to help develop the next generation of global entrepreneurs through programs in schools and universities worldwide. The coupling of tools such as Mara Mentor, an online mentoring platform that assists budding entrepreneurs to garner information and advice from business leaders, and NFTE's award-winning entrepreneurship curriculum will provide youth with tools to help them think entrepreneurially and to take responsibility for their futures.




(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130403/607118-a)

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"By partnering with the well respected non-profit organization NFTE, Mara Foundation will deliver joint programs to young people across the globe and address the educational gap that currently prevents entrepreneurs from successfully starting, scaling and sustaining SMEs," says Ashish J. Thakkar, Founder of Mara Foundation.




Together the two organizations are developing and implementing programs that will indelibly reach far more entrepreneurs with specific needs in terms of mentoring and education, while allowing them to build their businesses within a community of entrepreneurs. Amy Rosen, CEO of NFTE, supports the partnership by stating that "youth unemployment is a chronic issue throughout the world and we are constantly seeking vehicles to help young people maximize their opportunities. Partnering with Mara Foundation will allow NFTE graduates to access top-level business mentorship and incubation services so they can start and operate their own businesses and become job creators."




Headquartered in Dubai, Mara Foundation is the social enterprise of Mara Group, a 16-year old conglomerate of businesses founded by serial entrepreneur Ashish J. Thakkar. Mara Foundation focuses on Africa and has operations in 19 African countries through the Mara Group. Its mission is to provide comprehensive support services including mentorship, funding, incubation centre workspace and business training to African entrepreneurs. With these support services, Mara strives to transform entrepreneurs' business ideas into profitable and thriving companies that will create employment and contribute to the local and national economies.




For the past 25 years, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship has provided programs that inspire young people from low-income communities to stay in school, recognize business opportunities and plan for successful futures. Headquartered in New York City, NFTE has programs throughout the United States and nine licensed global partners in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. NFTE has reached more than 500,000 young people around the world since it was founded.




For more information:

Sabina Lindstedt

Mara Communications Director

+971-4-434-2197 or

media@mara.com




Alyssa Miller

NFTE Communications

+212-232-3333 or

alyssa.miller@nfte.com







Source: Mara Foundation and NFTE




Editor: PR Wire
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