Equipped with a vision and a strong commitment, four Carlson School of Management undergraduate students started something that would grow larger than they ever imagined. Late at night in their freshmen dorm rooms, Irene Fernando, Nick Lindberg, Brian Peterson, and Greg Tehven developed the idea for the organization Students Today, Leaders Forever (STLF) at the University of Minnesota. The organization’s mission is simple—to inspire, challenge, and encourage others to live to their fullest potential.
Since it was founded in the fall of 2003, STLF has expanded to seven college-based chapters on campuses throughout the Midwest, as well as a chapter at West Fargo High School in North Dakota. In addition, STLF is recognized by the state of Minnesota as a nonprofit organization and has developed a national office based out of Minneapolis. “We couldn’t have expanded this organization as much as we did without the strong support from the faculty and staff at the Carlson School, especially from Jerry Reinhardt, Anny Lin and Mary Kosir,” said Tehven, co-founder of STLF.	Nick Lindberg, Greg Tehven, Irene Fernando, and Brian Peterson (l to r)
“They coached us as we started a student group that expanded into a nonprofit organization developing young people’s leadership skills while strengthening the community.” One of the organization’s biggest projects is the Pay it Forward Tour, a spring break experience combining service and travel. In the spring of 2004, a charter bus with 43 students on board traveled from Minneapolis to Washington D.C., stopping at cities along the way to participate in service projects. The following year brought 150 students from 14 universities along four routes, stopping in 17 cities. This year, the tour will send as many as 320 students to 40 cities across the country. This winter, Tehven will speak at the VolunTourism Forum & Expo in Baltimore, Maryland, where he will address attendees on the positioning strategies used in developing STLF. Tehven and the other founders of STLF began the organization to give young people the opportunity to fulfill their goals in life. They discovered that running STLF involves tactics used in business. “Running STLF allowed me to relate management concepts learned in the classroom to actual business situations,” said Tehven. “We have hundreds of members and manage a budget of over 250,000, so accounting, finance, marketing, and management knowledge have been critical to our success.” After graduation, Tehven would like to continue working for nonprofit organizations. “I may be a student right now, but I’ll have the ability help others forever. After all, that is the philosophy behind our organization.”