The NYSE Euronext Foundation today announced its second year of support for The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA). A program of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), GSEA is the premier global competition for undergraduate students who own and operate revenue-generating businesses while attending high school, university or graduate school.

In advancing the mission of student entrepreneurship shared by both organizations, the 2010 NYSE Euronext Foundation grant will allow GSEA to expand into 5 new countries including New Zealand, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, and Japan. In addition, the program will create a social media network to build on the 2009 Legacy Summit intended to foster networking and mentoring across the EO spectrum to help GSEA participants to build their businesses. Finally, the 2010 grant will see the creation of larger East Coast finals competition to include more students from the East Coast who have been a growing group within the program.

Duncan Niederauer, chief executive officer of NYSE Euronext said, “Entrepreneurship is the foundation of innovation, growth and job creation, and we welcome the opportunity to nurture that spark and initiative in young entrepreneurs around the world.”

This year, Dinesh Wadhwani, 23, student at Babson College and CEO of Think Lite, a “green” lighting service company for retailers, as well as Joseph Davy, 21, founder of software startup EvoApp, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, won the 2010 GSEA East Coast Regional Finals. Held on October 22, 2010 at the New York Stock Exchange, two winners will go on to contend for $150,000 in cash and prizes at the 2010 GSEA Global Finals in Kansas City, Missouri, as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation.

As a program part of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), GSEA gives student entrepreneurs the chance to form solid relationships with mentors from EO who are running successful companies earning at least US$1million per year. Over the years, participating students have gone on to create thousands of jobs and generate millions in revenue. The partnership between the NYSE Euronext Foundation and GSEA supports young entrepreneurs by providing the confidence and leadership necessary to grow their businesses beyond the four walls of their dorm room.