Mario Avila

Biography

Mario serves as the founding Director of the Turner Family Center for Social Ventures (TFC) at Vanderbilt University, a center that serves as a thought leader for people across the university interested in combining revenue-generating businesses with social impact. He was honored as a 50 Under 40 Social Enterprise Leader by American Express and also selected to represent Nashville as one of Harvard Business School’s Young American Leaders - bringing together some of the country’s top leaders who are working across sectors to help their communities prosper. Most recently, he was honored as one of Nashville’s 40 Under 40 business leaders in 2020.

Mario was the CEO of Emerge and founder of Contigo Financial, a socially responsible consumer lender. His management experience includes finance, education, and consulting in three different countries. He teaches various classes on Social Enterprise & Entrepreneurship. Mario is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has an MBA from Vanderbilt.