Steve Mariotti Virtual Celebration of Life

NFTE invites you to join us for a virtual celebration of life to honor Steve’s life and legacy.

3:00 EDT 

Steve Mariotti, founder of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), passed away peacefully on October 20, 2024, at the age of 71. Born in Flint, Michigan, on August 14, 1953, Steve was the eldest son of educators John and Nancy Mariotti, who helped inspire his vision for NFTE.

After earning his B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Michigan and studying at Harvard, Stanford, and Brooklyn College, Steve began his career as a Treasury Analyst at Ford. He later founded Mason Import/Export Services in New York but shifted to teaching special education and business in New York City in 1982, working in underserved areas like Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant and the South Bronx. This experience led him to launch NFTE in 1987, dedicated to empowering youth in low-income communities through entrepreneurship education.

An expert in education for at-risk youth, Steve devoted his life to empowering youth from low-income communities, believing in every individual’s potential to shape their own future. Today, NFTE has empowered 1.4 million students globally, delivering in-school curricula and dynamic out-of-school and summer programs to prepare the next generation of diverse entrepreneurs and leaders.

Steve’s leadership and dedication earned him numerous honors, including the International Association of Top Professionals’ 2024 Man of the Year, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the Inc. Entrepreneur of the Year Award for New York State. His published works include the memoir Goodbye Homeboy: How My Students Drove Me Crazy and Inspired a Movement, which captures his journey with NFTE and was published in 2019 with a foreword by Maryland Governor, Wes Moore.

In a 2007 speech, Steve articulated the spirit behind NFTE: “Young people who live in challenging circumstances and who are faced with great hardships in their lives, often have many special gifts and talents. At NFTE, we call this street smarts. It’s as if when God takes something away, God gives something else. We see this every day at NFTE. Our kids have so much potential and talent – street smarts, chutzpah, and mental toughness – that they have unique and valuable assets in the market. But unless someone is given the chance to put their skills and talents to use, these children are at-risk of being left out. NFTE is a simple idea, but it will change the world one young entrepreneur at a time.”

Steve’s legacy lives on through NFTE and the many young entrepreneurs whose lives were and will be transformed by his enduring vision, along with a community of friends and supporters who helped him along the way. His work continues to inspire students and educators worldwide to embrace entrepreneurship as a pathway to opportunity and self-determination.

Steve is survived by his brother Jack Mariotti of Guilford, Connecticut, who for many years worked alongside Steve as NFTE’s CFO, and Jack’s wife Beth Mariotti and their children, Siena, Nina, Jackson, and Spencer. In Steve’s memory, his family invites donations to NFTE’s Steve Mariotti Legacy Fund which will support initiatives for NFTE alumni and educators.