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Key people at Enactus.
Enactus is a United States-based nonprofit organization that supports university students in developing social entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability projects globally. Operating across six continents, the entity provides comprehensive educational resources and programmatic support to student teams addressing complex global challenges through business innovation. Funded primarily through corporate partnerships and philanthropic donations, the network's student participants have successfully launched more than 75,000 entrepreneurial initiatives benefiting millions of individuals over the past five decades. Under the leadership of CEO George M. Tsiatis, the organization integrated its operations with the Resolution Project in 2023 and employs executive staff with prior professional experience at Acumen and the Clinton Global Initiative. The network also hosts annual national expositions to showcase student initiatives, recently naming the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as its grand champion for the upcoming year. Enactus was originally founded in 1975.
Enactus is an international non-profit organization that empowers university students worldwide to harness entrepreneurship for social and environmental impact through experiential learning and team-based projects.[1][2] Its mission is to educate, inspire, and support young leaders in using innovation and business skills to address global challenges, fostering a network across over 30 countries with more than 72,000 students annually launching initiatives aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals.[1][3][5] For nearly 50 years, Enactus students have created over 75,000 projects benefiting millions, emphasizing values like integrity, passion, innovation, and collaboration.[1][4]
Enactus was founded in 1975 in the United States as Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) by Texas attorney Robert T. Davis, initially as a U.S.-focused nonprofit to excite students about free-market principles and entrepreneurial leadership.[1][2][4] It expanded globally in 1995, spurred by exchange students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, growing into a network across six continents with the launch of the Enactus World Cup in 2001 to showcase student projects competitively.[1][2][4] Renamed Enactus in 2012 following a member survey, it continued scaling; by 2021, it engaged 1,730 teams in 35 countries and around 500,000 students.[2] A pivotal moment came in 2024 with a major collaboration announced with Resolution Project, committing resources to rebuild Enactus Global and engage over 40,000 youth yearly in nearly 100 countries, detailed in a 2025 op-ed by Resolution CEO George Tsiatis.[2]
Enactus rides the wave of social entrepreneurship and impact investing, training youth to build scalable ventures at the intersection of business, sustainability, and technology—such as AI-driven solutions or circular economy models like Thailand's cacao waste-to-feed innovation reducing methane emissions.[1][8] Timing aligns with rising ESG demands and youth-led climate action, where Gen Z (16% of the global population) forms the talent pipeline for stakeholder capitalism.[1][4] Market forces like UN SDGs and corporate social responsibility amplify its reach, influencing the ecosystem by producing leaders who launch high-impact enterprises, some reaching unicorn scale, and fostering alumni networks that bridge academia, business, and nonprofits.[2][4][8]
Enactus is poised to solidify as a global thought leader in youth-driven social enterprise, per its 2025 Strategic Plan, prioritizing resilient networks, alumni scaling, and catalytic ventures for planetary thriving.[4] Trends like AI-enhanced sustainability, circular economies, and youth activism will propel it, especially post-2024 Resolution merger expanding to 100 countries.[2] Its influence may evolve toward deeper tech integration in projects and policy advocacy, amplifying student innovations into mainstream impact—transforming "business as a force for good" from campus experiments to global unicorns.[1][8] This network of entrepreneurial leaders remains a catalyst for thriving in a sustainable world.[1]
Key people at Enactus.
