In 1995, Senator Sergio Osmeña III, saw entrepreneurs and small enterprise development as key to the crisis which the country continues to experience. There was joblessness and the exodus of Filipino professionals and workers abroad for lack of domestic employment. He sought the assistance of the United States Ambassador for a feasibility study to organize a Filipino Retired Executive Volunteer Corps patterned after the International Executive Services Corps (IESC). The commissioned study which was completed with the help of USAID, confirmed the need for a focal point composed of dedicated professionals imbued with nationalism. The EVFI was founded in 1997.