Global Youth Entrepreneurship Festival 03 - 05 November 2020
  • 99 Days
  • 99 Hours
  • 99 Mins
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Open for Business: Building Back to Beat the Odds

The Global Youth Entrepreneurship Festival 2020, our first wholly virtual member event, is a chance for the whole YBI network to come together after the extraordinary events of this year.

Our agenda prioritises what we know members value the most – the opportunity to connect with each other, to learn from peers about responding to the new challenges this year has posed, and gain valuable insights from experts.

Themes

  • Power of Entrepreneurship and Opportunities for the Future

    On Day 1, we will hear from Mark Curtis, Co-founder and Chief Client Officer at Fjord, part of Accenture Interactive, about the opportunities in the changes we are seeing in the world. We then learn from members about your successes, challenges and new services that have emerged as a result of this crisis.

  • Importance of Innovation and Digital

    On Day 2, Lean and Customer Development Expert and long-standing friend of YBI, Bob Dorf, will be sharing his inspirational and innovative thinking. We will look at outputs of the Digital Accelerator work and share how members can get involved. We’ll conclude the day with our Member Innovation Awards.

  • What Great Support Looks Like

    On Day 3, we will hear from some of our mentors and entrepreneurs and look at some potential new topics that could enhance your programmes. We’ll then round off the day with our Mentor Recognition Awards, followed by a chance to socialise!

Agenda and registration

  • 11:30am GMTVirtual Connection Lab with Chad Littlefield

    Join us for the unofficial but essential launch of the Festival with some Connection Before Content led by long time YBI friend Chad Littlefield. Chad will be leading us through an interactive Virtual Connection Lab to kick off our festival by sharing stories, challenges, triumphs, and insights. We show up to conferences, summits, and events for the content. We go to festivals for the experience and the connection. Join us!

    Watch Chad's introductory video

    In addition to old and new connections, you will walk away from this session with concrete, actionable tools to "create connection before content" and make engagement easy in a virtual space.

    1:00pm GMTWelcome from Anita Tiessen + Ready, RESET, Reinvent!

    Anita Tiessen, CEO of Youth Business International, introduces the Global Youth Entrepreneurship Festival 2020.

    She will be joined by Ndũng'ũ Kahĩhu, Executive Director of CAP-Youth Empowerment Institute (Kenya). As a representative from one of our newest YBI member organisations, Ndũng'ũ will extend a warm welcome to all GYEF participants!

    Mark Curtis, Co-founder and Chief Client Officer Fjord, part of Accenture Interactive, will share some Fjord trends 2020. Changes in our behaviors, values and priorities are affecting all areas of business and design and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to innovate business models, services and products around new definitions of value.

    1:50pm GMTBreak
    2:00pm GMTSupporting young Mongolian businesses during COVID

    The unprecedented COVID crisis created many challenges to young people's lives, but it has also presented several opportunities for entrepreneurs to do business differently. In this session, Youth Business Mongolia will share some of their learnings supporting entrepreneurs during these challenging times.

    2:30pm GMTUpdating Business Records Made Simpler With MyDuka

    Somo will introduce MyDuka - a simple, effective financial tracking tool that allows entrepreneurs to update business records on basic feature phones. The Somo team will introduce MyDuka's user experience, how MyDuka collects data, how this data measures entrepreneurs' growth and impact especially during COVID times, and how it can provide entrepreneurs with financing opportunities.

    2:30pm GMTCreating a 180-degree change to adapt to digital life as an NGO

    In this session, Habitat Association will show how they quickly transformed their offline support in Turkey into digital services, including an online hackathon and sprint events, live Broadcasts, and research series.

    3:00pm GMTPersonal Canvas Tool

    The Personal Canvas is a visual and agile tool for personal self-diagnosis that helps entrepreneurs know themselves better and make an improvement plan for their businesses. It's a reflection tool that leads to action and has helped hundreds of Spanish entrepreneurs to create a strategy to navigate the COVID crisis. In this session, YBS will share the details about the tool, results achieved and lessons learned.

    3:00pm GMTThe BeYourOwnBoss Educational Program: Teaching students how to BeYourOwnBoss

    BeYourOwnBoss is an educational programme created by Qredits, that introduces students at a young age to entrepreneurship. With its online and offline tools, it can be easily integrated into existing courses or as a stand-alone product for very diverse target groups. The Programme is a valuable offering to schools that have now moved to online teaching due to the pandemic.

    3:25pm GMTBreak
    3:35pm GMTYoung Entrepreneur of the Year Award

    This Award recognises the entrepreneur who has created an outstanding, innovative business with the potential for further growth.

    4:00pm GMTClose
    Select a session to book your place

    Tue 3rd Nov
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  • 10:00am GMTGoogle.org Programme Community of Practice Event

    YBI's nominated Google.org deliver partner (DP) in Turkey, Idema, takes to the floor to present its livelihood improvement project, LIFE.  Evren Aydoğan (Deputy General Manager) will speak of the challenges and wins that Idema has experienced so far through this specialist food entrepreneurship programme, which is targeted at refugees and host community members, sharing key learnings with members and DPs which can be applied to their own programmes.

    11:00pm GMTBreak
    11:45am GMTNetworking activity

    Networking is a key feature at any in-person event, and although virtual, GYEF is no different! You'll still get the opportunity to reconnect with old friends, get to know new ones, share the interesting things you are working on and learn about what other are doing. In our designated networking sessions, participants will have the chance to connect and discuss relevant topics related to entrepreneurship support.

    1:00pm GMTWelcome to Day 2 + Digital Accelerator

    The Digital Accelerator is a phased programme designed by Accenture and YBI that aims to help members to rapidly accelerate their digital journeys. A new version of the programme has been created that can be delivered remotely, with members identifying what their goals are and where they want to be in 3 years and a practical roadmap of actions. This session will share the experiences of Mahadhe Hasan and Shahariar Sadat from B’YEAH (Bangladesh) and Helena Casanovas Vieira from Aliança Empreendedora (Brazil) who have gone through the accelerator programme, and ways to get involved in the next phase.

    2:05pm GMTBreak
    2:15pm GMTSuccessful pitching and fundraising

    Calling all young entrepreneurs, mentors and anyone running a business. Led by Bob Dorf, renowned serial entrepreneur, coach and thought leader, who will share his lessons and real-life stories from decades of practical experience on pitching and fundraising - a critical area now more than ever. Bring your ideas to share!

    2:45pm GMTBreak
    2:55pm GMTRegional Innovation Workshops

    Prior to the Festival, YBI are running a series of Innovation Workshops attended by members, delivery partners and donors to ideate practical solutions to the most pressing and recurrent issues facing young entrepreneurs. In this session, we will take time to hear from those that took part and reflect on some of the key outcomes and highlights from the experience.

    3:30pm GMTBreak
    3:40pm GMTInnovation Awards

    Our Innovation Award recognizes outstanding work in the field of innovation.

    4:00pm GMTClose
    Select a session to book your place

    Wed 4th Nov
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  • 10:00am GMTGoogle.org Programme Community of Practice Event

    Hatch Enterprise is a UK-based charity that helps entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds to launch and grow their ventures. PHD student and Hatch employee Reetu Sood is will draw upon her specialist expertise to lead a session on how entrepreneurs from minority backgrounds can overcome the additional barriers that are inherently faced as a result of smaller networks and reduced levels of social capital.

    11:00am GMTBreak
    11:45am GMTNetworking activity

    Networking is a key feature at any in-person event, and although virtual, GYEF is no different! You'll still get the opportunity to reconnect with old friends, get to know new ones, share the interesting things you are working on and learn about what other are doing. In our designated networking sessions, participants will have the chance to connect and discuss relevant topics related to entrepreneurship support.

    1:00pm GMTWelcome to Day 3 + What makes a great mentoring relationship?

    Mentoring is an essential support tool that young entrepreneurs need, and in these challenging times it is more critical than ever. In this session, we will examine the importance of the three-way relationship; mentoring manager, entrepreneur, mentor and through their personal stories and experiences gain insights into what really works!

    We will learn from conversations with Rose Namutebi, Mentoring Manager at ICCO Uganda, High-Flyer Entrepreneur Norah and Business Mentor Moses. In particular, we will hear about the challenges presented by Covid and how Norah has found a way through the difficult times and now looks forward to a positive future. The session will be hosted by John Cull, YBI's leading mentoring consultant for the past 20 years.

    2:00pm GMTBreak
    2:10pm GMTCreating your professional network

    Amanda Scott introduces the Personal Boardroom - a practical, simple approach that will change the way you think about networks. Amanda will share learning from her research about networks in terms of the roles people play, looking at tools that are simple and practical to use. Overall, it will help you to identify gaps in your network and enable you to create a small, diverse group of people you trust who can help you succeed. Please contact joerg.schoolmann@youthbusiness.org for access to the recording of this event.

    2:55pm GMTBreak
    3:05pm GMTRecipes for Recovery: Supporting young entrepreneurs to overcome the crisis

    YBI has been working alongside some of its members to develop a new offering to support entrepreneurs during the recovery phase of the COVID-19 crisis. In this session, we will present the solution that has been designed.

    3:25pm GMTBreak
    3:35pm GMTMentor Recognition Awards

    Our Mentor Recognition Award will recognise the phenomenal support of YBI mentors who play a crucial role in shaping mentees' personal and professional development.

    4:00pm GMTClose
    5:00pm GMT"It's 5 o'clock somewhere!" social for all

    We mark to the close of what's set to be an amazing week by letting our hair down with friends old and new. We've compiled some of our favourite tried and tested Zoom social activities (and God knows we've had plenty to choose from after eight months of lockdown!) to make this session as fun, interactive and memorable as possible! Look forward to games, challenges and opportunities to get to know your fellow network members, or even see some of your existing global friends in a new light...

    Select a session to book your place

    Thu 5th Nov
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To register for the Festival sessions:

  • Each session type requires a separate registration, the links to which you will find next to each session. Just as with our COVID-19 support sessions earlier in the year, you will receive an email from zoom with the meeting link for each session once registration is completed.
  • The networking on Wednesday and Thursday morning are recurrent Zoom meetings, therefore a single registration will give you access to both sessions.
  • The Awards are also set up as recurrent Zoom meetings, so you only have to register once for all 3 Award ceremonies.

More information

We have arranged for LIVE Spanish translation throughout the core hours of the Festival (1-4pm GMT). This will be facilitated by Interacio, a service which works through a free mobile app or a web browser. We will send full details on how to access the translation closer to the event.

If you have any questions about the Global Youth Entrepreneurship Festival 2020, please get in touch with our team. We will be happy to hear from you.

info@youthbusiness.org

Speakers

Ana Hernández Ana Hernández

Training Manager – Youth Business Spain

Ana is the Training Manager at Youth Business Spain. She's responsible for setting up a road map for a standard training methodology, as well as designing and launching the brand-new soft skills program Compe10ciasLED.

Ana is the founder and director of AV Asesores, a consulting practice founded in 1996 and dedicated to assist organizations to enable them to foster self-employment and innovative social strategies.

She works with companies to help them innovate their business model, services, products, market access, communication, etc. She also coordinates the design of regional sustainable tourism plans.

She has developed her own methodology to help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into a business. The method is called the 'Test del Algodon' and can be implemented following a free App and a book.

Ana holds a Law degree, an European Community Master, an Electronic Business Administration Master and a Leadership Degree.

Amarbayasgalan Khatanbaatar Amarbayasgalan Khatanbaatar

Program Officer - Youth Business Mongolia

Amarbayasgalan Khatanbaatar is a Program Officer at Youth Business Mongolia, and is responsible for designing, building, and implementing YBM's initiatives to support young business owners on Mongolia.

He previously worked for a year as a Compliance Officer and Simultaneous Translator at Tenger Insurance LLC, and successfully executed projects related to businesses and finance. He has completed various international development fieldworks in cooperation with KOICA and JICA, in the Philippines, Kenya and Tanzania. Besides his Bachelor's degree in International Studies from the Chonbuk National University, South Korea, he completed his exchange studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and ACU of Sydney. Currently he is seeking his MBA, in the evening class, at the University of Economics and Finance of Mongolia.

Amanda Scott Amanda Scott

Amanda Scott is co-founder of Personal Boardroom and is the lead facilitator of its work.

Amanda Scott is co-founder of Personal Boardroom and is the lead facilitator of its work. She co-authored Who is in your Personal Boardroom? in 2014 and is a regular speaker on networks. Her clients include business schools, professional networks, financial services companies, and multi-national retailers.

Her career spans advertising, being an agent for actors and a decade as an executive coach before discovering the power of networks and co-founding “Personal Boardroom” with Zella King. Amanda and Zella ask who is in your Personal Boardroom as this takes people right to the important question: At the heart of their network, who is really helping them succeed?

Drawing on their own insights as well as academic research on the networks of high performers, they have created a practical framework to help people identify gaps in their network, make plans to fill those gaps, and have purposeful conversations with people who can help them.

Bob Dorf Bob Dorf

Bob Dorf is one of the top Lean Innovation and Customer Development experts in the world.

Bob Dorf is one of the top Lean Innovation and Customer Development experts in the world. Together with Steve Blank, Bob published The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company, outlining every step of the lean customer development process.

In addition to teaching Lean Startup methods at Columbia University Business School, Bob has travelled to teach entrepreneurs in 51 countries and 20 US states over the last decade. He is very proud of his four years of YBI member coaching and training programmes and looks forward to meeting his “YBI family” online in November.

Charles Juma Charles Juma

Acceleration Officer – Somo Africa

Charles is an acceleration officer at Somo Africa, and is a skilled computer scientist, and software developer. He is also founder of BDIGISMAT, a software company based in Kibera, which focuses on apps and software for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Chad Littlefield Chad Littlefield

Chad Littlefield is the co-founder and Chief Experience Officer of We and Me, Inc.

Chad Littlefield is the co-founder and Chief Experience Officer of We and Me, Inc. —an organization whose mission is to create conversations that matter. Leaders call Chad when they want to amplify connection, belonging, and trust in their organization. Forbes calls Chad a “global expert on asking questions that build trust and connection in teams.” He is a TEDx speaker, author of the Pocket Guide to Facilitating Human Connections, and creator of We! Connect Cards™, which are now being used to create conversations that matter on campuses and companies in over 80 countries around the world.

Most recently, Chad and his partner Will Wise launched their new book, Ask Powerful Questions: Create Conversations that Matter, now a #1 Amazon Bestseller.

Chad has led workshops, trainings, retreats, and interactive keynotes at JetBlue, Starbucks, Conscious Capitalism International, Johnson & Johnson, Penn State, Notre Dame, George Mason University, Typeform, Goodwill, and dozens of conferences.

Charles Ocici Charles Ocici

Executive Director - Enterprise Uganda

Mr. Charles Ocici is the founding Executive Director at Enterprise Uganda, Uganda's premier institution supporting Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs). He is a senior business consultant and mentor.

Charles has built a core team of multi-skilled professionals that offer diverse business development services. He holds a Master of Business Administration at the University of Stirling, UK among other academic achievements.

Charles has 32 years of corporate governance, banking, project investment finance, strategy development, business enterprise development and general business advisory in Uganda. He sits on several boards in the banking, education and NGO sectors in Uganda and is a former guest lecturer at Master of Business Administration Programme at Makerere University Business School.

Dee Jadeja Dee Jadeja

Global Programs - Accenture Development Partnerships

Dee works at Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP) – Accenture's social impact practice. With core consulting expertise spanning business strategy, organisation design and talent management, Dee has been working in a range of development sector actors for over 10 years designing new organisational growth strategies and exploring opportunities for innovation in Livelihoods programmes.

Hilal Gerçek Hilal Gerçek

Entrepreneurship Program Director – Habitat Association

Hilal works as an Entrepreneurship Programme Director for Habitat Association; an NGO has worked in sustainable development since 1997. Hilal previously worked for Vodafone Turkey Foundation, BinYaprak and AFS, ITU Science park and METU Science park focussing on entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment, children, people with disabilities, and technology-based entrepreneurship. She is also interested in social entrepreneurship and has volunteered for IEEE and Social Investment Platform. For the last two years, she is the Vice Chairman of JCI Kadikoy. She studied physics at Middle East Technical University.

John Cull John Cull

John has been involved with mentoring at YBI for nearly 20 years, long before it was the YBI we all know.

John has been involved with mentoring at YBI for nearly 20 years, long before it was the YBI we all know. He helped develop the YBI mentoring toolkit (2008) and since 2010, John has been actively supporting mentoring managers to build their mentoring programmes within all continents where YBI operates. More recently, John has been a key contributor to YBI’s vitally important, Covid inspired, SOS Mentoring Webinar programme. John is passionate about the value of mentoring and coaching in helping people achieve their goals and was awarded his MA for Mentoring and Coaching practice in 2006.

Lotte van Dijk Lotte van Dijk

Product Manager - Qredits

Lotte van Dijk is one of the Product Managers of the BeYourOwnBoss Educational Program at Qredits Microfinance in The Netherlands. After studying in South Korea and working as an intern at bol.com, one of the biggest E-Commerce companies in The Netherlands and Belgium, she finished her International Business and Languages studies.

Last year she started working as a graduate intern at Qredits and never left the Qredits-family. From day one, she has been involved in the Innovation Challenge and has focused on introducing the BeYourOwnBoss Educational Program in the international market.

Mark Curtis Mark Curtis

Mark Curtis is Co-founder and Chief Client Officer at Fjord, part of Accenture Interactive

Mark Curtis is Global Head of Innovation and Thought Leadership for Accenture Interactive. Previously he was Co-founder and Chief Client Officer at Fjord, part of Accenture Interactive. He is a serial entrepreneur and innovator who has worked in media, digital, mobile and design for over 30 years. Fjord was acquired by Accenture in May 2013. He leads the creation of Fjord’s famous annual report – Fjord Trends and is a thought leader around the intersection of human and technology. Mark is a frequent speaker at conferences and commentator in the media. He has published a book, "Distraction - Being Human in the Digital Age".

Prior to Fjord, which he co-founded in 2001, he established Curtis Hoy, which pioneered a new market sector of radio sales promotion in 1989 as the commercial UK radio industry flourished under deregulation. In 1994 he and a business partner set up CHBi to explore the marketing potential of the then emerging interactive and "new" media. In 1998 he sold CHBi to Razorfish. Mark's role evolved to EVP Products and Service in which he ran a change management programme for all 2,000 employees which restructured and radically simplified Razorfish's approach to clients and projects.

Between 2005 and 2011 Mark stepped out of Fjord to run Flirtomatic, a mobile dating start-up incubated by Fjord. As CEO he raised over $10m and pioneered the mobile dating industry, in particular bringing the freemium revenue model to mobile for the first time.

Reetu Sood Reetu Sood

Freelance facilitator – Hatch Enterprise (UK)

Reetu is a freelance consultant, coach, facilitator and programme designer working with start-up programmes and impact entrepreneurs. She's also studying for a PhD researching how the intersectionality of gender and ethnicity influences entrepreneurial network development. Reetu's been on the founding team of two social enterprises, and is currently a Trustee of Rosa UK, a grant fund promoting gender equality.

Rose Namutebi Rose Namutebi

CEA Program Officer – ICCO Uganda

Rose Namutebi Mulumba is a social Worker and an Entrepreneur. Rose holds a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from Makerere University Uganda and currently pursuing a Masters degree in Local Governance and Human Rights from Uganda Martyrs University Nkozi. She has a wealth of experience in youth entrepreneurship, business Development, gender and women rights, food and nutrition security with extensive skills in lobbying and advocacy for economic and social empowerment of women and youth.

Rose is Project Coordinator of High Flyers, a project that supports 1,000 young entrepreneurs in Uganda implemented by ICCO Cooperation. She currently supports the mentoring program with ICCO Uganda as the Mentoring Manager. Before joining ICCO, Rose worked with Volunteer Efforts for Development Concern (VEDCO) as Gender and Capacity Building Coordinator, Living Earth Uganda (LEU) as a Project Manager, Green Efforts Foundation (GEF) as a Youth Coordinator, None Governmental Organisation Coordinating Council Zambia (NGOCC) as a Communication and Advocacy Officer and National Association for Women Organization (NAWOU) as a Programs Manager.

Rose is married, with three beautiful children, she is passionate about working with vulnerable groups of people (women and youth) with a desire to create a positive chance in their lives. She loves associating with entrepreneurs, enjoys travelling to new places and devotes her time to participate in church missions at a village level.

Shahariar Sadat Shahariar Sadat

Member of the Governing Board and Project Coordination Committee, B’Yeah (Bangladesh)

Shahariar Sadat is a member of the Governing Board and Project Coordination Committee at Bangladesh Youth Enterprise Advice & Helpcentre (B’Yeah) from February, 2017. He is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and an accredited mediator and master trainer on mediation. He is currently the Head of Programme of Human Rights and Legal Aid Services (HRLS) at BRAC.

He has been invited to join the Global Mediation Panel of the United Nations. He has worked as country mediator of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman of the World Bank Group and a mediator for the Independent Redress mechanism of Green Climate Fund.

He is associated with Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre (BIAC) as a panel mediator and master trainer. Shahariar was a partner and course coordinator of London College of Legal Studies (South), an institution which provides teaching support for qualifying law degree under English law. He had been an adjunct faculty of University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and University of Dhaka. He was the Academic Coordinator and Research Manager of South Asian Institute of Advanced Legal and Human Rights Studies (SAILS) and played the key role of Academic Coordinator at the Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ), BRAC University.

Mr Sadat is an ex-cadet of Barishal Cadet College. Completed SSC and HSC with distinction. He has primarily graduated in Economics from University of Dhaka and achieved Master’s in Social Science in Economics. Afterwards he graduated in Law from University of London and completed Master’s in Industrial and Employment Relations from ITCILO under University of Turin with distinction.

Accenture

Leading global professional services company Accenture is a long-standing supporter of Youth Business International. Accenture acts as an advisor and partner to YBI, providing both funding and the time and skills of their employees to guide our strategic development. Over the last decade, Accenture has been instrumental in helping us grow and strengthen our global network. Learn more

Global Youth Entrepreneurship Festival
  • 99 Days
  • 99 Hours
  • 99 Mins
  • 99 Secs

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Those who make it possible

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IDB Lab

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Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

EEA and Norway Grants

EEA and Norway Grants

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