WHO WE ARE

MISSION STATEMENT

The Mark Victor Hansen Foundation advances literacy as a means of giving citizens of the world an opportunity to achieve the three imperatives of our mission: entrepreneurship, education and empowerment.

VISION STATEMENT

Our vision is of a world in which innovative entrepreneurial and social enterprise solutions are used to alleviate poverty.

MARK’S MESSAGE

The Mark Victor Hansen Foundation must be a global leader in the fight against poverty. Solving global poverty is a moral imperative. The Foundation is challenging the world to bring high-level attention to our vision of ending poverty and creating global economic growth. The Foundation provides literacy as a means of ending global poverty, creating opportunities for citizens throughout the world in three priority areas: entrepreneurship, education, and empowerment.

The Mark Victor Hansen Foundation and our partners are committed to solving global poverty because we believe that all lives have equal value, no matter where they are being lived—in rich countries with high-quality health care or poor countries with almost none; in well-off suburbs where students are supported with private schools and home computers or in disadvantaged communities where students are challenged with numerous obstacles that hinder their ability to obtain their high school diplomas.

From those to whom much is given, much is expected. There are countless individuals who have benefited from great schools, a productive health care system, and a time in history where a vibrant economic system has provided soaring benefits. To ensure lasting prosperity, one must tithe, as giving is living! The Foundation is consistent-persistent-and-insistent about its passionate desire to create a paradigm shift by providing tools and disciplines for successful transitioning from struggling individuals to legacy-creating entrepreneurs and society contributors. The Foundation will play a vital role in the development of human capital necessary to ensure a steady stream of entrepreneurial activity enhancing the ability for self-sustaining economic growth. Let the future say of our generation that we sent forth a powerful force of good, and that we worked together to heal the world.

President, Mark Victor Hansen Foundation

THE OPPORTUNITY

Slow job growth, declining home values, a diminishing tax base, and concentrated poverty are but a few of the growing obstacles for indiviiduals across the globe. The future health of our economies and societies must be supported by new frameworks, cutting-edge analysis, and innovative solutions through which governments, business, civic, and community leaders can sculpt sustainable and supportable economies. Implementation of these measures addresses challenges such as fostering entrepreneurship, reducing poverty and inequality, maintaining and augmenting the number of skilled professionals who reside and work in a community, among others.

At a time when the entire world seems to be heading toward points of inflection, the United States is on the verge of becoming the world’s first Entrepreneurial Nation. Recent statistics show that half of all new college graduates not believe that self-employment is more secure that a full-time job. Today, 80% of the colleges and universities in the U.S. now offer courses on entrepreneurship; 60% of Gen Y business owners consider themselves to be serial entrepreneurs, according to Inc. magazine. Tellingly, 18 to 24-year-olds are starting companies at a faster rate than 35 to 44-year-olds. And 70% of today's high schoolers intend to start their own companies, according to a Gallup poll. Malone, M (2008, May) The Next American Frontier.The Wall Sreet Journal [online WSJ.com]

There is growing and widespread interest among policymakers at all levels of government throughout the world in recent years to promote entrepreneurial-friendly environments and entrepreneurship in terms of self-employment and business ownership. This interest is motivated by a substantial body of research indicating that entrepreneurs spur the diffusion and implementation of innovative ideas, create new products, services and markets. In addition, there is convincing evidence demonstrating the importance of entrepreneurship for increasing social welfare, providing a route out of unemployment and poverty.

It is clear that the challenge now is to strengthen our entrepreneurial economy and the growth it brings in order to meet the multiple economic challenges we now face. The Mark Victor Hansen Foundation is committed to providing education, empowerment, and entrepreneurship skills to men, women and children throughout the world. A strong education system, including the encouragement of entrepreneurial thinking is vital to the development of the creative and skilled population that will generate our future global economy, which is critical to global sustainability.