A place where experts and practitioners can explore, ideate and collaborate
The Global Youth Entrepreneurship Summit (GYES) is the Youth Business International network’s flagship event which brings together leading experts, influencers and decision makers in the youth entrepreneurship sector. It is a space for YBI members to connect with game changers and sector innovators through workshops and facilitated discussions to explore, ideate, collaborate, and generate new approaches that respond to the ever-changing needs, challenges and aspirations of young entrepreneurs globally.
Learn how to better respond to the needs of young entrepreneurs globally
From keynote speeches, panel discussions and workshops featuring some of the industry's most knowledgeable experts, to networking and social activities, GYES 2019 is an event you don't want to miss. This year’s theme, Innovation for Impact, will arm you with the tactical know-how you need to better respond to the evolving needs of the young entrepreneurs you support. Join leading experts and YBI members from over 50 countries across 6 continents and help shape the future of youth entrepreneurship.
A global gathering in Cartagena, Colombia
GYES 2019 will take place in Cartagena, Colombia, at the Cartagena Convention Centre, conveniently located just minutes away from the Rafael Núñez International Airport. Head to the FAQ to read more about how to get to Cartagena, where to stay and how to access the YBI member special discount hotel rates.
Address: Cartagena Convention Centre, Getsemaní, Calle 24 Nº 8a-344, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
Participants will have the opportunity to explore key topics and share their expertise with the world’s leading organisations in youth entrepreneurship support. Our themes for the week are:
Future
We will look at the key trends in youth entrepreneurship and what we need to be thinking about for the future of work. We will explore what innovation really means and how we harness it to increase our collective impact.
Progress
We will discuss in depth the skills needed by young people to thrive as entrepreneurs tackling topics such as migrant youth, digital barriers and entrepreneurship in rural communities. We will look for ways to further develop the services that we offer as a network to the young entrepreneurs we support.
Growth
We will explore the continuing collective challenges of sustainability and growth in the context of scaling. We will share experiences of different business models and revenue streams, joint ventures and commercialisation.
Broaden your horizons with inspiring activities, from daytime keynote speeches, panel discussions and workshops, to organised networking and social activities. We'll update the agenda regularly as we move closer to the event.
This day is open to all attendees
An excellent opportunity to network, meet old friends and colleagues, as well as meet new people before the official start of the GYES 2019. A light buffet dinner and drinks will be served during the event.
This day is open to all attendees
Tea & Coffee
With Anita Tiessen, Youth Business International, Lakshmi Venkatesan, Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust
from Nicolas Cary, Blockchain.com Touching on questions such as “How do we equip ourselves to compete in a fast-paced, ever-changing market?” and “Why does technology really matter?”, Nicolas will kick off GYES 2019 with a thought-provoking speech about future trends in technology including machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain, data and social connection.
A fun and interactive session allowing participants to break the ice and meet other delegates.
With Maritza Vela, Inter-American Development Bank. In a world that’s ever changing, how can we apply emerging technologies to our work with young entrepreneurs who don’t have the right digital skills? In this session, Maritza will showcase ways in which disruptive technologies are being used to increase the impact of social and economic development projects.
3 x 5 min pitch-style presentations from YBI members showcasing their successes and learning generated from using innovation to support young entrepreneurs globally.
With Lina Rossi Idarraga, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs. With the world becoming increasingly more digital, how is entrepreneurship evolving and what are the challenges facing young entrepreneurs? In this session, Lina will provide participants a framework for segmenting and understanding the different types of enterprises that form the diverse ‘missing middle’.
With Dee Jadeja, Carlos Perafan, Accenture Development Partnerships. How can you reduce the uncertainties surrounding innovation? In this session, participants who are new to Human Centred Design will learn the basics of this approach, as well as a series of practical methods and tools to implement Human Centred Design at an organisational level.
With Leticia Gasca, Global Initiative for Skills Portability Failure in business and innovation is still a big taboo and often considered as an unacceptable outcome. In this interactive session, Leticia will work with participants to demystify failure, drawing valuable learnings from historical examples and from the attendees’ own histories of failures.
With Nayib Abdala, ConvertLoop Even with a mastery of Human Centred Design techniques, formulating the right questions to achieve your goal is always a challenge. This workshop will offer participants a framework for asking the right questions to uncover the unmet needs of customers, generating great ideas for new products and services that sell.
From Yeinni Andrea Patiño Moya
This year our awards will celebrate young entrepreneurs with exceptional, innovative businesses; recognise inspiring mentors across the network; and showcase YBI members who are using innovation to better serve the young people they support.
This day is open to all attendees
from Chad Littlefield, We and Me, Inc.In a world where our meetings, training, and teams are so often focused on content and not connection, Chad Littlefield will share concrete, actionable tools to help you build a culture of connection before content. The kind of connection that builds trust and psychological safety.
with Dan Ouimet (Chair), Futurpreneur; Branka Minic, Future Work Consulting; Namita Datta, S4YE Coalition; Heidi Strawson, Corporate Citizenship Accenture; 2019 Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner What skills do young entrepreneurs need to thrive in an ever-changing world of work? This panel discussion will explore new models and approaches to developing future skills for young people embarking on an entrepreneurial journey.
With Anita Tiessen, Youth Business International YBI is committed to supporting its members to deliver high impact support to underserved young entrepreneurs. Global trends such as rising inequality, rapid urbanisation, migration and the refugee crisis are reshaping the challenges and opportunities young entrepreneur face, and the support they need. In this session, Anita Tiessen will outline YBI’s new programmatic approach to support members to better engage with and respond to these key trends so that, as a network, we can continue to evolve and grow our support for young entrepreneurs.
With Oscar Recio, Nestlé Colombia; Camilo Peláez Gomez, Home Burgers; Jorge Huertas, Guiando Territorio; Hélène M. Van der Roest, ICCO; Bat-Orshikh Erdenebat, Youth Business MongoliaDespite rapid urbanisation, 46% of the world’s population is rural. Young entrepreneurs in these areas can stimulate economies, increase food security and reduce poverty. This panel discussion will explore practical experiences of promoting entrepreneurship among rural youth and connecting them into value chains.
With Marco Ribas, Accenture, Christoph Juenger, Light for the World; Helen Vieira, Aliança Empreendedora Building inclusive societies is a global priority and embedded in UN’s SDG 10: Reducing Inequalities. This panel discussion will share insights into how we can break down barriers by increasing entrepreneurship opportunities for the most marginalised and disadvantaged young people.
With Michael Lerner, UNHCR; Patricia Yopasa, Corporación Minuto de Dios; Guillem Aris, Autoocupació; Hilal Gerçek, Habitat Turkey Youth on the move, whether migrants, refugees or internally displaced persons, face a myriad of additional obstacles to entrepreneurship. This panel will discuss what the right tools are to ensure they thrive, drawing from the experiences within and outside of the YBI network.
With Chad Littlefield, We and Me, Inc.; Boris Tkachenko, Youth Business Russia; Joerg Schoolmann, Youth Business InternationalHow can you reduce the uncertainties surrounding innovation? In this session, participants who are new to Human Centred Design will learn the basics of this approach, as well as a series of practical methods and tools to implement Human Centred Design at an organisational level.
With Provash Burden, Mercy Corps; Bady Acuña Franco, Perspektiva; Elwin Groenevelt, Qredits The need for capital to start and grow a business is widely accepted as a key challenge for entrepreneurs. This panel discussion will explore the type of financing entrepreneurs need at each stage of their journey, and the best ways to support them to access it.
With Tatiana Rogovschi Garcia, Aliança Empreendedora E-learning platforms are one of the most effective and scalable ways to support young entrepreneurs to thrive. This session will share the key lessons learned by YBI members who developed thriving e-learning platforms.
From Bo Ghiradelli, Sky’s the Limit Bo Ghiradelli will share his personal journey on setting up Sky’s the Limit – a fast-growing digital platform that connects entrepreneurs with their peers, volunteer business mentors, training resources, and funding.
5 min pitch-style presentations from YBI members showcasing their successes and learning generated from using innovation to support young entrepreneurs globally.
With Chad Littlefield
This day is open to all attendees
From Chad Littlefield, We and Me, Inc.
from Juan David Aristizábal, Los Zúper In a world of information overload, stories can cut through the clutter, get the message across, and drive meaningful connections. For the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, storytelling is a vital skill. Together with Juan David, participants will explore how we can teach this skill by creating their own powerful stories.
With Ian Gray, Gray Dot Catalyst, Anibal Pinto, Acción Emprendedora, Lakshmi Venkatesan, Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust, Ariel Tito, Manq’a With an increasingly competitive market, organisations need to be more innovative when it comes to finding new potential revenue streams and methods for scaling their business models. Participants will explore different business model theories that they can apply to their own organisations.
with Jessica Greenhalf, Youth Business International; Andrea Dalla Palma, Youth Business International Demonstrating impact can help you drive continuous improvement, secure funders and leverage influence. This session will provide participants with ideas and inspiration on gathering, interrogating and using your organisation’s data to tell a compelling impact story.
5 min pitch-style presentations from YBI members showcasing their successes and learning generated from using innovation to support young entrepreneurs globally.
with Anita Tiessen (Chair), Youth Business International; Ricardo Triana, Colombian American Enterprise Council; Marco Ribas, Accenture Colombia In a world where the way we are fundraising is changing drastically, simply asking for money is no longer viable. This panel discussion will explore how we can develop meaningful and mutually beneficial partnerships with donors that lead to high impact programmes and youth empowerment.
with Christoph Juenger, Light for the World; Sarah Eldon, Youth Business InternationalPitching your work to a funder is often a very challenging and time consuming activity. This session will share insights, practical tips and examples. Participants will also hear inspiring examples of successes and failures that will help them develop the best approaches for their future funding opportunities.
with Adenike Adeyemi, FATE Foundation; Emilia McElvenney, Youth Business InternationalThis session will provide participants with information and practical suggestions they can start using immediately to leverage funds and build strong partnerships which ultimately lead to greater impact for young entrepreneurs.
with Ian Gray, Gray Dot CatalystThis hands-on session will provide participants with practical ways of assessing their organisation’s readiness to scale by using the Scale Assessment Map.
With Anita Tiessen, Youth Business International
Delegates will have free time before the GYES celebratory dinner
Dress code: Business Casual
This day is open to YBI members only
Parallel sessions led by members on topics related to the Summit’s theme, Innovation for Impact, where members can showcase best practices that strengthen ways of working and improve strategies for future development.
This year’s YBI Annual General Meeting will take place on the last day of the Summit and will be chaired by Sir Malcolm Williamson. The meeting will cover key areas of discussion such as the annual CEO report, Network Performance Report, Strategy Implementation Report, INSIST and Board updates. YBI members who will not be attending the Summit will be invited to join via Skype. The agenda and papers will be shared separately.
Roundtable discussions This collaborative session will see YBI members and Network Team working together to identify network priorities for the future.
With Anita Tiessen, Youth Business International; Sir Malcolm Williamson, Chair of Youth Business International Board
From industry experts and influencers, to decision makers and entrepreneurs, our speakers are all experts in their fields. Come along and be inspired to make your work even better.
Read the latest news, media coverage, blog posts, and more. All GYES 2019 content lives right here.
If you are a YBI member or supporter use the code provided in the launch email in order to unlock special tickets at discounted rates.