Los Angeles, California (January 31, 2011) – Roozt, Inc. and SAGE Global have developed a strategic partnership to promote and encourage teen social entrepreneurship worldwide, the two organizations announced last week.

SAGE – Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship – is a global community of teenage entrepreneurs sharing a common purpose: to make the world a better place.

Roozt.com is a for-profit company that inspires and empowers Social Entrepreneurs to be successful through several initiatives, one being its e-commerce platform that provides great deals on products from companies that are Humanitarian, Eco-Friendly, Ethical, and Community Conscious.

Through this partnership, SAGE will become a nonprofit recipient of the 1% of all sales made on Roozt.com that are donated to the nonprofit of the buyer’s choice. These proceeds will directly fund the global education and mentoring of social entrepreneurship to the youth involved in SAGE. Additionally, Roozt, Inc. will become a sponsor of the annual SAGE competition.

The annual SAGE competition allows aspiring teenage entrepreneurs to showcase their efforts on a national and world stage, and make their dreams a reality. SAGE is sponsored by such organizations as Macy’s Foundation, Target Corporation, Deloitte, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Kobe Bryant Family, Umpqua Bank and Wells Fargo Bank.

In addition to Roozt.com’s socially responsible e-commerce platform, the company is actively involved in the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurs (“NFTE”), with Roozt Co-founder/CEO Brent Freeman teaching a weekly 10th grade social entrepreneurship class to at-risk youth in Downtown Los Angeles.

SAGE will also become active in Roozt, Inc.’s NFTE social entrepreneurship classroom at Downtown Magnet High School in Los Angeles, assisting the students with their business plan submissions to the SAGE competitions and further laying the groundwork for their future success.

Curt DeBerg, SAGE Executive Director and Founder, said, “The partnership with Roozt is exciting for us. Not only will more teens participate in SAGE, but we envision a time when our successful teen entrepreneurs will sell their merchandise on the Roozt.com website.”

Through real-world application in helping their communities, students are taught what it means to be a social entrepreneur and guided through the process of starting their own company, with a means of “giving back” built directly into their business models.

At the end of the year-long program, students will present their business plans to a panel of industry executives and veterans, before launching their companies in earnest. The winner of the business plan competition will receive full incorporation from myCorporation.com, and will be featured as a socially responsible company with its product for purchase on Roozt.com.

Roozt, Inc. and SAGE Global are excited to announce the details of their recent strategic partnership, expressing their shared mission to further promote social entrepreneurship among youth around the world.

Roozt.com & NFTE Partner to Teach Social Entrepreneurship!

In Los Angeles, in Mr. Jaquias’ 10th grade class at Downtown Magnets High School, there are a group of 35 students that are out to change the world — through business. These elite students were specially selected to take part in the first ever Social Venture Competition where they will learn the fundamentals of starting their own business through the lens of a social entrepreneur that is committed to making a difference in the world as well as a profit. Pretty amazing feat for a group of 14 and 15 year olds!

When I founded Roozt.com, I wanted to do something that made a positive impact on the world and helped inspire others to do the same. So when I was introduced to the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), it was a match made in heaven. An established national organization that goes into low-income communities from all across the U.S. to teach entrepreneurship to youth, I saw an opportunity to harness their infrastructure, established programs, and inspiring student base to modify the curriculum to integrate social responsibility into the student’s everyday learnings and business models. The idea I proposed to the NFTE Chapter of Greater Los Angeles was simple: let’s make social responsibility a forethought instead of an afterthought. Let’s integrate it directly into everything that the students do, learn, and practice so that as they become entrepreneurs with their own companies or intrapreneurs within existing organizations, they will incorporate responsible business practices all along the way. The Executive Director of NFTE here in LA, Estelle Reyes, could not have been more excited and supportive of the idea and immediately we began the planning process.

The students spent the entire first semester of their year studying the basics of marketing, identifying opportunities in the market, learning how to develop a clear business concept, and going over the basic laws of supply and demand — all through the eyes of a social entrepreneur who is focused on people, planet, and profit.

Mr. Jaquias' 10th Grade NFTE Class at Downtown Magnets High School in Los Angeles with Roozt Founders Brent Freeman & Norma LaRosa (Center)

The second semester (which just began) is where it gets real exciting! We will be taking the students through a Social Venture Competition where they identify a problem in their community and develop a for-profit business model around helping solve it. Each student will write a business plan about their social venture, from concept statement to financial projections, then create a pitch to present to a panel of experienced social entrepreneurs and investors. To make this competition something real for the students, Roozt and its corporate partner, MyCorporation.com, have teamed up to create a Social Venture Launch Kit for the Grand Prize winner that will help eliminate some of the major barriers of entry to actually starting their business. This Launch Kit will include:

1. Free LLC or Incorporation filing (including state fees)
2. Corporate Name availibility check
3. TAX ID Number for the business
4. Business Consultation with a MyCorp & Roozt Business Professional
5. Elite Corporate Kit and Seal (with customized documents & certificates)
6. Free Logo Design
7. Free Domain Name
8. Free QuickBooks Simple Start
9. Free Website
10. Small Business Book Set
11. Company & Product Feature on Roozt Website, Email, and Blog

The Launch Kit for the winner of the Social Venture Competition was designed to break down the barriers of entry the students to turn their business idea into a reality at the end of the semester, so we are very excited to see where this goes! The whole idea behind this entire program is to teach, inspire, and mentor the young social entrepreneurs of Downtown Magnets High School here in LA to make a difference in the world through business. To make this happen, I personally join Mr. Jaquias and his 10th grade class once a week to help teach the students the fundamentals of using business as a vehicle to make the world a better place. Each week will be a new challenge, new lesson, and new step forward.

We are extremely fired up to see what this upcoming semester holds, the ideas that the students come up with, and the social impact that they will make on their community.

Each week of this semester, I will chronicle a step of our journey in the DMHS Social Entrepreneur Pilot Program on the Roozt Blog, Roozt Twitter, Roozt Facebook, as well as the NFTE National blog for you to follow. We hope you enjoy reading about the amazing things these students are up to and that you become inspired by some of their incredible stories and ideas. I know I am. These students are the business leaders of tomorrow. These students are our future. I could not be more excited for what’s in store!

Enthusiastically,

Brent Freeman
Founder / CEO, Roozt.com

To learn more about NFTE, go to www.NFTE.com or donate directly by clicking here.

Now is your chance to get cool shoes and be a humanitarian in the process, so mark your calendar and start 2011 right!

Oliberté "Rovia" Shoe in Navy

This Friday 1/14 – Sunday 1/16 only, 1% of every purchase made on Roozt.com will be donated to GiveRunning.org, an inspiring organization that puts shoes on children in need from all around the world!

This weekend’s Roozt Daily Deal will feature Oliberté Footwear. An incredible company that makes premium leather shoes for guys and girls, the company combines the heritage of African artisans with forward-thinking design and technique. All footwear is made in Ethiopia with 100% natural leather and constructed with over 1,000 stitches by men and women that are paid and treated fairly – all part of their belief that Africa is full of pride, power and liberty.

ROOZT DEAL: $100 value Oliberté Footwear gift cards will be sold for just $45. A savings of 55%!

Give Running is an inspiring nonprofit that collects, cleans, and donates new & gently-used running shoes (plus a set of brand new socks for each pair of shoes!) to disadvantaged youth both in Third World countries and inner city communities here in the United States.

• In many Third World nations, it is required for children to wear shoes to attend school. Many children miss out on the opportunity for a quality education, solely because their families cannot afford to buy them a pair of shoes. Give Running changes that.

Give Running Founder Greg Woodburn distributes shoes in Mali.

• Even in America, finances cause many living in the inner cities to miss out on the joys, freedoms, and opportunities that running brings. A member of the USC Track & Field team, Give Running Founder Greg Woodburn understands the healthy outlet that running can provide, and works hard to provide quality running shoes to disadvantaged youth and teens here in the U.S., as well as abroad.

• Read People Magazine’s feature on Give Running in its “Heroes Among Us” column here

• Read Reader’s Digest feature on Give Running here

• Watch Give Running’s Founder Greg Woodburn give shoes to the small village of Sikoro, Mali here.

Because Give Running’s mission is so closely aligned with Oliberté’s, providing hope, sustainability, and a better future for all Africans, we are thrilled to announce our Roozt Deal and urge you sign up and partake by buying the deal!

How You Can Make a Difference with Your Dollars Everyday:

1. Sign up for Roozt.com’s Deal Alerts by clicking here.
2. Purchase a $100 value Oliberté gift card for just $45 (saving 55%), from Friday 1/14 to Sunday 1/16. Exclusively on Roozt.com!
3. 1% of your purchase will be donated to Give Running’s efforts to improve the lives of disadvantaged youth in Africa and the U.S.  It’s easy as 1, 2, 3 (literally)!

So tell your friends, tell your family…heck, shout it from the top of a mountain if you want. The important thing is that, through your savvy purchase of Oliberté footwear, you will be making a material difference in the lives of so many children who need it.

See you this Friday 1/14/10 at Roozt.com!