SIFE Changes Name to Highlight a Deep Commitment to Entrepreneurial Action

Students in Free Enterprise, the world’s best-known and most successful program helping university students to create community empowerment projects, has changed its name to Enactus to reaffirm its long-standing commitment to using entrepreneurial action as a catalyst for progress.

“Our organization was created almost 40 years ago—long before concepts like micro-loans and social enterprises even existed—in order to prove the transformative power the entrepreneurial spirit can have in people’s lives,” said Alvin Rohrs, Enactus’ CEO. “Our core belief has always been that the same kind of creativity and rigor and accountability that fuels businesses around the world is not only transferrable but actually essential to human progress.”

The organization has pioneered a groundbreaking model that deploys student teams, with the advice and support of academic and business leaders, to design and implement community empowerment projects in 39 countries. “Our organization is built around a core set of principles, rather than a specific formula,” notes Mat Burton Enactus’ Chief Marketing Officer. “Every year we literally create 1,600 ‘innovation labs’—each finding innovative ways to address difficult challenges in communities around the world.”

“There’s really nothing else quite like it,” added Rohrs. “We needed a name that reflected that uniqueness. Something that captured the entrepreneurial spirit that fuels everything we do. We were also eager to create a name that reflected how global this organization has become. Entrepreneurial action is not something that is relevant to a single culture or nationality. What we do is just as powerful in Shanghai as it is in Sao Paulo, just as transformative whether we are in San Francisco or Sydney.

In fact, the name change is only the first step in an aggressive effort to expand the organization’s level of reach and impact. Equally important is the influence Enactus has on the 57,000 students that participate in creating projects each year. The experience has a profound impact on the kind of leaders they become, and the type of work they choose to do in their lives.

“This is a time for leaders who can see opportunity where others can’t, and turn that opportunity into value. Leaders who can look beyond the status quo and bring imagination and ingenuity and a sense of possibility to the challenges of our time,” said Rohrs. “Enactus is committed to fostering that kind of leader.”

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Mexico to serve as host country for 2013 Enactus World Cup

Enactus World Headquarters announced today that the 2013 World Cup will be held 29 September – 1 October in Cancun, Mexico.

“This will be our first time to hold the World Cup in Latin America and we’re excited about the opportunity to bring our signature event to such a dynamic and important country as Mexico.”
– Alvin Rohrs, President & CEO, Enactus

The event will take place at the prestigious Moon Palace Resort, which has hosted meetings for a number of international organizations such as the United Nations and World Health Organization, as well as numerous Enactus partner companies. Situated 30 minutes south of Cancun and just 12 minutes south of the Cancun International Airport, the all-inclusive property contains 2,434 sleeping rooms and a conference center that is among the largest, most flexible and most technologically sophisticated in all of Mexico.

As the organization’s signature global event, the Enactus World Cup brings together an international audience of student, academic and business leaders to showcase how they are enabling progress around the world through entrepreneurial action. Set against the backdrop of a global competition in which the national champions from 39 countries will present the impact of their outreach projects, the event offers numerous opportunities for cultural exchange, learning, collaboration and networking among the attendees.

2013 will mark the 13th consecutive World Cup and the first time event is being held in Latin America. The host country, Mexico is an economic powerhouse within Latin America and the world. It has the 11th largest economy globally, is sixth in the world in annual tourism, the largest exporter in Latin America and is a member of OECE, G8+5, G5 and BRIMC. With half the country’s population under the age of 27, Mexico represents a place of vitality, hope and potential and is a perfect setting for an event as full of energy and optimism as the Enactus World Cup.

The Enactus country operation in Mexico has gained significant momentum in recent years and is poised to leverage a strong local network of influential leaders and corporate partners in support of the World Cup. They’re also achieving success attracting the interest of new and strategically important organizations such as Grupo Televisa (the largest Spanish content television, radio, film, internet and publishing media company in the world), which has pledged their support to raise the profile of the World Cup locally, regionally and globally.

“We are honored that World Cup 2013 will be held in Mexico. All the members of Enactus Mexico are excited for the opportunity to share our rich history, culture and entrepreneurial spirit with the rest of the global network. We’re committed to helping ensure a meaningful and rewarding World Cup experience for the thousands of members expected to attend the 2013 event.”
– Jesus Esparza, President, Enactus Mexico

Special thanks to KPMG who will serve as Presenting Sponsor of Enactus World Cup 2013. For more information on the event visit enactus.org/worldcup.

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