PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NFTE Philadelphia, whose mission is to provide programs that inspire young people from low-income communities to stay in school, to recognize business opportunities and to plan for successful futures, today announced that it will host its Third Annual Visionary Gala on November 17, 2011 from 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm at Vie, Cescaphé Group’s new venue, located at 600 North Broad St. in Philadelphia. This year’s honoree will be Michael G. Rubin, Founder and CEO of Kynetic, and Founder and Former CEO of GSI Commerce, which was recently acquired by eBay for $2.4 billion. In addition, NBC10’s Tracy Davidson will be the MC for the Gala.

Become a sponsor and RSVP today at www.NFTEPhiladelphiaGala.com.

“Michael embodies the qualities of hard work, perseverance and commitment to excellence—qualities that we strive to instill in our students each and every day,” said Sylvia Watts McKinney, Executive Director of NFTE Philadelphia. “We are thrilled that Michael will be joining the ranks of honorees who represent the true spirit and determination of an entrepreneur. We look forward to Michael sharing his experiences and wisdom with our students and with our Gala attendees.”

Sylvia continued, “At NFTE Philadelphia, we’ve reached more than 2,500 students from over 20 different schools – the demand for our services and award-winning curriculum is rapidly growing city-wide. For many of our students, there are significant hurdles that they need to overcome during the course of their education. NFTE’s goal is to empower them through entrepreneurship and guide them on their own paths to success. We are humbled by the endless commitment from Greater Philadelphia area business leaders. In addition, I would like to thank our 2011 Gala Committee, without whom this event and the sustainability of our NFTE program would not be possible.”

“I am humbled to be honored by an organization such as NFTE, whose work I so admire,” said Michael G. Rubin. “I look forward to sharing my experiences and the valuable lessons I’ve learned as business builder over the past 28 years with the students and future visionaries of our community.”

ABOUT OUR HONOREE

Michael began his entrepreneurial career at the age of 12, when he opened a ski-tuning shop in the basement of his parents’ home. The effort earned $25,000, and it was enough to rent space in a suburban Philadelphia strip mall and open “Mike’s Ski Shop.” Within a year, his operation had racked up sales of $125,000. By the time he graduated high school, Michael had establish several retail ski shops in Pennsylvania and New York. It would mark the beginning of an entrepreneurial career that led him to build and become founder and CEO of GSI Commerce.

With 2010 revenues of more than $1.3 billion, GSI’s products and services enabled more than 500 of the world’s leading consumer brands and retailers to capture the full potential of the online channel. In June 2011, eBay completed its acquisition of GSI Commerce for approximately $2.4 billion. Today, GSI Commerce, an eBay Inc. company, operates as a separate business alongside eBay Marketplace and PayPal.

As part of the transaction, the majority shares of GSI-owned companies — Fanatics, the world’s leading online retailer of licensed sports merchandise; Rue La La, a leading online private sale destination in the U.S.; and ShopRunner, an innovative members-only service that aggregates shopping benefits from the top retailers and brands — were divested to create a newly formed company, Kynetic. Kynetic embodies Michael’s true passion for building consumer Internet businesses.

Michael’s success as an entrepreneur was showcased in the inaugural season of CBS’ hit show “Undercover Boss,” as well as highlighted in numerous media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, CNN, The New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek and People.

ABOUT OUR VISIONARY GALA COMMITTEE

The 2011 Gala Go-Chairs are Pam Lehrer, Berwind Corporation; Carolyn Oakley Lowe, Lowe & Associates; and Sally Solis-Cohen, CEO IntroNet. Leadership Champions for the 2011 Visionary Gala include:

Doug Alexander – ICG
Peter J. Boni – Safeguard Scientifics
Marcia Shepherd Baker – The Baker Foundation
Gino Benedetti – Dilworth Paxson
Bruce Brown – The HBE Foundation
Andrew Cherry – KPMG LLP
Brian Doerner – Ballard Spahr LLP
Rick French – NSM Insurance Group
Caron Graff – Graff & Associates, LLC
Terry Hicks – Ben Franklin Technology Partners
Heather Hunter – Safeguard Scientifics
Richard Jaffe – Duane Morris LLP Phil Jaurigue – Sabre Systems
Andrew Kaplan – Deutsche Bank AG
Kevin Kelly – Kelly + Partners
Jordan LaVine – Flaster/Greenberg PC
Mark McGuriman – CBIZ
Bill McKeown – Wells Fargo
Sylvia Watts McKinney – NFTE Philadelphia
Alice Niles – CBIZ
Michael Regan – NFTE Philadelphia
Howard Smith – Bolis Properties
Kathleen Thomas – Bank of America
BECOME A SPONSOR AND RSVP TODAY!

For information about how to become a sponsor and to RSVP, please visit NFTE Philadelphia’s Visionary Gala microsite at www.NFTEPhiladelphiaGala.com. Deadline for sponsorship and RSVPs is October 31st and November 10th, respectively.

About The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)

Too many young people today drop out of school and struggle to break the cycle of poverty. Since 1987, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) has been inspiring young people to pursue educational opportunities, start their own businesses, and succeed in life. By providing entrepreneurship education programs relevant to the real world, NFTE empowers students to own their education in and out of the classroom and to find their own path to success. Hundreds of thousands of students have discovered opportunity all around them through entrepreneurship via thousands of certified educators worldwide. NFTE supports active programs in 21 states and 10 other countries through our network of program offices and licensed partners. Entrepreneurs are a powerful driver of economic growth and NFTE sows the seeds of innovation in students worldwide. To learn how you can help students realize their potential, visit www.nfte.com.

About NFTE Philadelphia

NFTE Philadelphia chapter was established in 2007 through initial donor support and seed funding from Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE: SFE) and Internet Capital Group (Nasdaq: ICGE). Specifically in the Greater Philadelphia area, NFTE has reached more than 2,400 students from more than 20 different schools and recruited over 150 business leaders from the Greater Philadelphia area as guest speakers, coaches and judges. For more information about NFTE Philadelphia, please visit www.nfte.com/philadelphia or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NFTEphilly and Facebook at www.facebook.com/NFTEPhiladelphia.

Contacts

NFTE Philadelphia
Media Contact:
Gregory FCA
Theresa Murray, 610-228-2126
theresa@gregoryfca.com