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.
Tue/Wed/Thurs/Fri
Anita Tiessen
Chief Executive Officer, Youth Business International
General Speaker
Anita leads the global network’s efforts to connect members, partners and young people to develop and scale new solutions that leverage the power of entrepreneurship to drive social and economic change. Before joining YBI in 2018, Anita was CEO of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
Tue/Thurs
Lakshmi Venkataraman Venkatesan
Founding and Managing Trustee, Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust
General Speaker
An alma mater of Delhi University, India and New York University, USA, Ms. Venkatesan holds two Master Degrees in Physics and Engineering Science. After spending nearly two decades abroad, Ms. Venkatesan set up Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST) in 1992 with the objective of fostering entrepreneurship among the underprivileged youth who lack resources to start their own ventures.
Tue
Carlos Perafan
Latin America Lead, Accenture Development Partnerships
General speaker
Carlos is the LATAM lead for Accenture Development Partnerships, a group within Accenture focused on international development. Carlos has more than 17 years of experience leading and delivering projects that bring business and technology expertise to the Financial and the Development sectors.
Tue
Dee Jadeja
Strategy & Livelihoods Lead, Accenture Development Partnerships
General speaker
With core consulting expertise spanning business strategy, organisation design and talent management, Dee's 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.
Tue
Nayib Abdala
CEO and Founder, Convert Loop
General speaker
Nayib is CEO of ConvertLoop and a Product Strategy Mentor helping hundreds of businesses in Latin America, USA, and Europe to design products and their go-to-market strategies in entrepreneurship programmes for companies like Google and Telefónica. Nayib is the co-creator of Apps.co, the largest IT Entrepreneurship programme in Colombia.
Tue
Lina Rossi Idarraga
Andean Chapter Manager, ANDE
General speaker
Lina has over 10 years of experience in the small and growing business sector. She is the Andean Chapter Manager at the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs and was a Founding Partner of Grupo Impacta S.A.S., a Bogota-based consulting practice for small and growing businesses.
Tue/Wed/Thurs
Heidi Strawson
Global Giving, Corporate Citizenship Accenture
General speaker
Heidi is a pioneer of Accenture's goal to equip people with the skills they need to get a job or start a business. She is a passionate advocate of inclusion and diversity, managing a portfolio of high value partnerships with non-profit organizations spanning multi-million and multi-year commitments that reach scale and impact.
Tue
Nicolas Cary
Co-Founder & Vice Chairman at Blockchain.com
Keynote speaker
Nicolas Cary is a serial entrepreneur and lifelong technologist. He attributes much of his insight to his personal journeys around the world. In 2013 he co-founded Blockchain, the world's leading crypto assets software company with over 35 million users.
Tue
Leticia Gasca
Co-founder, Global Initiative for Skills Portability and Shaping the Future of Work
General speaker
Prior to co-founding the Global Initiative for Skills Portability (a think tank focused on the future of education), Leticia co-founded the movement Fuckup Nights, present in over 300 cities in 90 countries, and the Failure Institute, the first centre in the world devoted to studying business failure.
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Wed
Angélica Poveda Ramirez
Commercialization Lead, Fundación Guiando Territorio
General speaker
Angélica is a young Colombian rural entrepreneur. She is 25 years old and is studying veterinary medicine at the University of LaSalle. She has worked since 2006 with the Fundación Guiando Territorio, which is a nonprofit established by young entrepreneurs in Usme outside of Bogotá to commercialize their agricultural products paying farmers fair prices. She currently serves as Commercialization Lead for the foundation.
Wed
Tatiana Rogovschi Garcia
Project Coordinator, Aliança Empreendedora
General speaker
Since 2017, Tatiana coordinates the ‘Geração Empreendedora Programme’ at Aliança Empreendedora, with a focus on supporting young people aged 18-35 who wish to start or grow their businesses to develop entrepreneurial skills through training, mentoring and access to finance.
Wed
Elwin Groenevelt
Managing Director, Qredits
General speaker
After 14 years in commercial banking, Elwin founded Qredits in 2009. Qredits, a microfinance organization in the Netherlands, offers microcredit loans, SME loans, flexible credit, mentoring and an array of business development tools. Currently, Elwin is serving a three-year term as President of the Board of the European Microfinance Network.
Wed
Provash Burden
Americas Regional Director, Mercy Corps
General speaker
Provash has designed and implemented programmes for Mercy Corps in Colombia and Sudan as a Country Director and Chief of Party respectively. He has completed assignments in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia for UN, US, international donors and NGOs. Provash has a vast expertise in USAID and EC policies and regulations.
Wed
Patricia Yopasa
Director of Entrepreneurship, Corporación Minuto de Dios
General speaker
Patricia is a Public Accountant graduate, specialising in finance and has 4 years’ experience in the implementation of entrepreneurship programmes in vulnerable communities in Bogotá and Cartagena.
Wed
Michael Lerner
Durable Solutions Officer, UNHCR
General speaker
Michael works with UNHCR Colombia, where he leads the agency’s work on livelihoods and economic inclusion, including employment and entrepreneurship for internally displaced persons, refugees and migrants. He has over 18 years of experience working on human rights, development and humanitarian assistance in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Wed
Hilal Gerçek
Entrepreneurship Director, Habitat Turkey
General speaker
Hilal is the Entrepreneurship Director of Habitat Association, an NGO which has been working in the field of sustainable development since 1997. She previously worked for Vodafone Turkey Foundation, AFS, Istanbul Technical University and Middle East Technical University. She has been the Vice Chairman of JCI Kadıköy for the past two years.
Wed
Joerg Schoolmann
Head of Mentoring, Youth Business International
General speaker
Joerg has supported entrepreneurs from diverse, underserved backgrounds for over 20 years. In the past 4 years Joerg has worked in transnational projects focusing on developing thriving programs for young entrepreneurs, promoted social entrepreneurship and access to finance. His current focus is on supporting a brilliant community of mentoring experts globally with the aim to design, test, implement and scale innovative solutions in mentoring.
Wed
Guillem Aris
CEO, Autoocupació
General speaker
With a wide experience in supporting business creation, managing programs to facilitate training, access to finance and mentoring for underserved entrepreneurs, Guillem is the founder of Autoocupació, Business Angels Network Catalunya, Microenterprise Agency, Reempresa and Youth Business Spain. Guillem also served as Vice President of the European Microfinance Network.
Wed/Thurs
Christoph Juenger
International Director Fundraising and Communications, Light for the World International
General speaker
Christoph is a passionate leader, fundraising manager and change agent. He worked for a decade as a Senior Management Consultant focused on Non-Profit/Public Management and as a Project Leader within the Telecommunications sector. In 2011 he joined SOS Children’s Villages International as Head of Individual Giving going on to serve as their International Director of Fund Development.
Wed
Boris Tkachenko
CEO, Youth Business Russia, The Mentoring Institute
General Speaker
With more than 27 years of experience working in the small and medium-sized business development sector, Boris has successfully designed and delivered national and international mentoring programmes for the past 11 years. Boris is an author and international speaker and has been awarded numerous awards in recognition of his contribution to the development of business mentoring in Russia.
Wed
Marco Ribas
President, Accenture Colombia
General Speaker
During his career Marco has successfully delivered numerous projects emphasizing operational improvement and technology applied to the mining, metals and chemical industries. Marco has extensive experience in Accenture’s practice on leadership, strategy, management consulting, and research and development projects.
Wed
Bo Ghiradelli
Chief Executive Officer, Skysthelimit.org
General Speaker
Bo Ghirardelli is the co-founder and CEO of Skysthelimit.org, a tech non-profit that connects underserved young entrepreneurs with experienced business advisors and mentors in the United States. Bo leads a team of 20 people at skysthelimit.org, and has raised over $4 million in support of their mission.
Wed
Oscar Recio
Human Resource Vice President, Nestlé Colombia
General speaker
Oscar Recio is the Human Resources Vice President at Nestlé Colombia, company in which he belongs since 2000, where he is accountable for the people agenda within the Operational Board for the Market and for the complete HR Shared Functional Services for all Business in the Market.
Wed
Bady Acuña Franco
Executive Director, Perspektiva
General speaker
Bady is the Executive Director of Perspektiva in Peru. He has over 20 years of experience in social and economic programmes in Latin America, generating opportunities for participatory development with articulation of public and private actors. The last decade, saw an active commitment in the promotion of employment through youth enterprises.
Wed
Hélène M. Van der Roest
Regional Manager Central Eastern and Southern Africa, ICCO
General speaker
Hélène is the Regional Manager for ICCO Cooperation leading 10 country teams in Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. ICCO Cooperation is global development enterprise, established in the Netherlands in 1964 with the vision to fight poverty and injustice.
Wed
Bat-Orshikh Erdenebat
Programme Manager, Youth Business Mongolia
General speaker
Bat-Orshikh Erdenebat has been working as a Programme Manager for YBI member, Youth Business Mongolia, since 2013. He has more than 10 years experience of development practice focused on design and implementation of local community and business development programmes in peri-urban and rural areas.
Wed
Camilo Peláez Gomez
Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Home Burgers
General speaker
Camilo Pelaez is Home Burger's Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Culinary Arts and Management from the Culinary Institute of America. Before founding Home Burgers, he worked in several restaurants in New York City, including Chipotle Mexican Grill where he was part of their Management Training Programme.
Wed
Dan Ouimet
Vice president, Futurpreneur Canada
General speaker
Futurpreneur Canada is a national, non-profit organization that provides financing, mentoring and support tools to aspiring business owners aged 18-39. Their internationally recognized mentoring program hand matches young entrepreneurs with a business expert from a network of more than 2,800 volunteer mentors.
Wed
Namita Datta
Head and Coalition Manager of Solutions for Youth Employment, World Bank
General speaker
Namita is the Head and Coalition Manager of S4YE, a multistakeholder global programme that brings together multilaterals, bilateral organisations, private sector, think tanks and civil society on the agenda of youth employment.
Wed/Thurs
Chad Littlefield
Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer, We and Me, Inc.
Keynote speaker
Chad is the co-founder of We and Me, Inc - an organisation whose mission is to create conversations that matter. Chad is a TEDx speaker, author of the Pocket Guide to Facilitating Human Connections, and creator of We! Connect Cards used in over 80 countries around the world.
Wed
Branka Minic
Founder, Future Work Consulting
General speaker
Branka spent 17 years with ManpowerGroup, the world leading organisation in innovative workforce solutions. She has extensive experience in labor market and skill gap analysis and her research deals with innovative policies and best practices to reduce youth unemployment.
Thurs
Sarah Eldon
Director of Development, Youth Business International
General speaker
Sarah has 15 years’ experience in the charity and NGO sector having worked in fundraising, communications and programme management. Sarah recently returned to the UK after spending six years overseas in North Africa, the Middle East and Sub Saharan Africa.
Thurs
Emilia McElvenney
Head of Development, Youth Business International
General speaker
Emilia is delivering global partnerships at YBI with institutions, corporates and leading foundations and helping members to build organisational sustainability. She has been working in the humanitarian and development sector for the last 10 years. Most recently, Emilia worked in Turkey with Syrian refugees, Iraq with displaced populations and Liberia as part of the Ebola response.
Thurs
Ricardo Triana
Executive Director and CEO, Colombian American Enterprise Council
General speaker
Ricardo is the Executive Director and CEO of the Council of American Enterprises, CEA, an association founded in 1962 with more than a hundred US companies as affiliates. Before this, he served as director of the Colombian Government Trade Bureau in Washington D.C. Ricardo was also Central America and Panama Director for ProColumbia, the Colombian promotion agency for exports, foreign direct investment and tourism.
Thurs
Ariel Marcos Tito Correa
Regional Manager, MANQ’A
General speaker
Ariel is a specialist in development programs with 14 years’ experience working in the not-for profit sector. He is currently Regional Manager of MANQ’A, an organisation that seeks to generate life opportunities by training young, low-income youths as chefs and culinary entrepreneurs in Bolivia and Colombia.
Thurs
Anibal Pinto
Executive Director, Acción Emprendedora
General speaker
Anibal is a Chilean Lawyer with a master’s in law and international development policies. He is Founder and Executive Director of NGO Acción Emprendedora and of Bolsa Emergente, a fintech company. Anibal is a former Dean of the School of Economics and Business at San Sebastian University and a former Advisor to the Minister of Economy.
Thurs
Andrea Dalla Palma
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist, Youth Business International
General speaker
Andrea is responsible for the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning of the Youth Entrepreneurship Program for Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to joining YBI, Andrea was in charge for the monitoring and evaluation of the projects funded by Barrick Mining Company within its CSR strategy in Peru.
Thurs
Jessica Greenhalf
Director of Learning and Influence, Youth Business International
General speaker
Jessica is responsible for creating the culture, structures and capabilities to drive learning across the YBI network. She has over ten years’ experience in the non-profit sector in a variety of roles. She has worked for Restless Development as Country Director in Uganda, for Plan UK on their youth portfolio, and most recently for Bond in their Effectiveness team.
Thurs
Adenike Adeyemi
Executive Director, FATE Foundation
General speaker
As the head of Nigeria's foremost enterprise development non-profit, Adenike leads the fulfilment of FATE Foundation's mission to enable aspiring and emerging Nigerian entrepreneurs start, grow and scale their businesses.
Thurs/Fri
Sir Malcolm Williamson
Chair of trustees, Youth Business International
General speaker
Sir Malcolm worked for Barclays Bank PLC from 1957 to 1985. In 1989, he joined Standard Chartered PLC and became Group Chief Executive. In 1998, he moved to San Francisco, USA, as President and CEO of Visa International until 2004. Sir Malcolm’s current non-executive roles are Chairman of Friends Life Group Limited, NewDay Group Ltd, the Cass Business School Strategy and Development Board and the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation.
Thurs
Juan David Aristizábal
President and Founder, Los Zúper
Keynote speaker
Juan David Aristizábal is the Founder and President of Los Zúper, a non-profit organisation equipping young people with the skills needed in the 21st century. Forbes magazine listed Juan on its 30 Under 30 list as a leader in using media to connect Colombians to socially-minded initiatives and engaging the broader community in their development.
Thurs/Fri
Maritza Vela
Private Sector Project Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank
General speaker
Maritza Vela is a Specialist of the BID Lab, a fund established to promote private sector development in Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by the Inter-American Development Bank. Ms. Vela has more than 15 years of experience in the design and supervision of projects in sustainable tourism, workforce development, and entrepreneurship.
Thurs
Ian Gray
Founder, Gray Dot Catalyst
General Speaker
Ian Gray is the Founder of Gray Dot Catalyst, a strategy, innovation and partnering consultancy. Before founding Gray Dot Catalyst Ian spent the previous 10 years as a leader in the Humanitarian and Development sectors, covering strategy, programmes, policy and innovation.
TUE
Anita Tiessen
Chief Executive Officer, Youth Business International
General Speaker
Anita leads the global network’s efforts to connect members, partners and young people to develop and scale new solutions that leverage the power of entrepreneurship to drive social and economic change. Before joining YBI in 2018, Anita was CEO of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
TUE
Lakshmi Venkataraman Venkatesan
Founding and Managing Trustee, Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust
General Speaker
An alma mater of Delhi University, India and New York University, USA, Ms. Venkatesan holds two Master Degrees in Physics and Engineering Science. After spending nearly two decades abroad, Ms. Venkatesan set up Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST) in 1992 with the objective of fostering entrepreneurship among the underprivileged youth who lack resources to start their own ventures.
TUE
Carlos Perafan
Latin America Lead, Accenture Development Partnerships
General speaker
Carlos is the LATAM lead for Accenture Development Partnerships, a group within Accenture focused on international development. Carlos has more than 17 years of experience leading and delivering projects that bring business and technology expertise to the Financial and the Development sectors.
TUE
Dee Jadeja
Strategy & Livelihoods Lead, Accenture Development Partnerships
General speaker
With core consulting expertise spanning business strategy, organisation design and talent management, Dee's 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.
TUE
Nayib Abdala
CEO and Founder, Convert Loop
General speaker
Nayib is CEO of ConvertLoop and a Product Strategy Mentor helping hundreds of businesses in Latin America, USA, and Europe to design products and their go-to-market strategies in entrepreneurship programmes for companies like Google and Telefónica. Nayib is the co-creator of Apps.co, the largest IT Entrepreneurship programme in Colombia.
TUE
Lina Rossi Idarraga
Andean Chapter Manager, ANDE
General speaker
Lina has over 10 years of experience in the small and growing business sector. She is the Andean Chapter Manager at the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs and was a Founding Partner of Grupo Impacta S.A.S., a Bogota-based consulting practice for small and growing businesses.
TUE
Heidi Strawson
Global Giving, Corporate Citizenship Accenture
General speaker
Heidi is a pioneer of Accenture's goal to equip people with the skills they need to get a job or start a business. She is a passionate advocate of inclusion and diversity, managing a portfolio of high value partnerships with non-profit organizations spanning multi-million and multi-year commitments that reach scale and impact.
TUE
Nicolas Cary
Co-Founder & Vice Chairman at Blockchain.com
Keynote speaker
Nicolas Cary is a serial entrepreneur and lifelong technologist. He attributes much of his insight to his personal journeys around the world. In 2013 he co-founded Blockchain, the world's leading crypto assets software company with over 35 million users.
TUE
Leticia Gasca
Co-founder, Global Initiative for Skills Portability and Shaping the Future of Work
General speaker
Prior to co-founding the Global Initiative for Skills Portability (a think tank focused on the future of education), Leticia co-founded the movement Fuckup Nights, present in over 300 cities in 90 countries, and the Failure Institute, the first centre in the world devoted to studying business failure.
WED
Angélica Poveda Ramirez
Commercialization Lead, Fundación Guiando Territorio
General speaker
Angélica is a young Colombian rural entrepreneur. She is 25 years old and is studying veterinary medicine at the University of LaSalle. She has worked since 2006 with the Fundación Guiando Territorio, which is a nonprofit established by young entrepreneurs in Usme outside of Bogotá to commercialize their agricultural products paying farmers fair prices. She currently serves as Commercialization Lead for the foundation.
WED
Tatiana Rogovschi Garcia
Project Coordinator, Aliança Empreendedora
General speaker
Since 2017, Tatiana coordinates the ‘Geração Empreendedora Programme’ at Aliança Empreendedora, with a focus on supporting young people aged 18-35 who wish to start or grow their businesses to develop entrepreneurial skills through training, mentoring and access to finance.
WED
Elwin Groenevelt
Managing Director, Qredits
General speaker
After 14 years in commercial banking, Elwin founded Qredits in 2009. Qredits, a microfinance organization in the Netherlands, offers microcredit loans, SME loans, flexible credit, mentoring and an array of business development tools. Currently, Elwin is serving a three-year term as President of the Board of the European Microfinance Network.
WED
Provash Burden
Americas Regional Director, Mercy Corps
General speaker
Provash has designed and implemented programmes for Mercy Corps in Colombia and Sudan as a Country Director and Chief of Party respectively. He has completed assignments in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia for UN, US, international donors and NGOs. Provash has a vast expertise in USAID and EC policies and regulations.
WED
Patricia Yopasa
Director of Entrepreneurship, Corporación Minuto de Dios
General speaker
Patricia is a Public Accountant graduate, specialising in finance and has 4 years’ experience in the implementation of entrepreneurship programmes in vulnerable communities in Bogotá and Cartagena.
WED
Michael Lerner
Durable Solutions Officer, UNHCR
General speaker
Michael works with UNHCR Colombia, where he leads the agency’s work on livelihoods and economic inclusion, including employment and entrepreneurship for internally displaced persons, refugees and migrants. He has over 18 years of experience working on human rights, development and humanitarian assistance in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
WED
Hilal Gerçek
Entrepreneurship Director, Habitat Turkey
General speaker
Hilal is the Entrepreneurship Director of Habitat Association, an NGO which has been working in the field of sustainable development since 1997. She previously worked for Vodafone Turkey Foundation, AFS, Istanbul Technical University and Middle East Technical University. She has been the Vice Chairman of JCI Kadıköy for the past two years.
WED
Joerg Schoolmann
Head of Mentoring, Youth Business International
General speaker
Joerg has supported entrepreneurs from diverse, underserved backgrounds for over 20 years. In the past 4 years Joerg has worked in transnational projects focusing on developing thriving programs for young entrepreneurs, promoted social entrepreneurship and access to finance. His current focus is on supporting a brilliant community of mentoring experts globally with the aim to design, test, implement and scale innovative solutions in mentoring.
WED
Guillem Aris
CEO, Autoocupació
General speaker
With a wide experience in supporting business creation, managing programs to facilitate training, access to finance and mentoring for underserved entrepreneurs, Guillem is the founder of Autoocupació, Business Angels Network Catalunya, Microenterprise Agency, Reempresa and Youth Business Spain. Guillem also served as Vice President of the European Microfinance Network.
WED
Christoph Juenger
International Director Fundraising and Communications, Light for the World International
General speaker
Christoph is a passionate leader, fundraising manager and change agent. He worked for a decade as a Senior Management Consultant focused on Non-Profit/Public Management and as a Project Leader within the Telecommunications sector. In 2011 he joined SOS Children’s Villages International as Head of Individual Giving going on to serve as their International Director of Fund Development.
WED
Boris Tkachenko
CEO, Youth Business Russia, The Mentoring Institute
General Speaker
With more than 27 years of experience working in the small and medium-sized business development sector, Boris has successfully designed and delivered national and international mentoring programmes for the past 11 years. Boris is an author and international speaker and has been awarded numerous awards in recognition of his contribution to the development of business mentoring in Russia.
WED
Marco Ribas
President, Accenture Colombia
General Speaker
During his career Marco has successfully delivered numerous projects emphasizing operational improvement and technology applied to the mining, metals and chemical industries. Marco has extensive experience in Accenture’s practice on leadership, strategy, management consulting, and research and development projects.
WED
Anita Tiessen
Chief Executive Officer, Youth Business International
General Speaker
Anita leads the global network’s efforts to connect members, partners and young people to develop and scale new solutions that leverage the power of entrepreneurship to drive social and economic change. Before joining YBI in 2018, Anita was CEO of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
WED
Bo Ghiradelli
Chief Executive Officer, Skysthelimit.org
General Speaker
Bo Ghirardelli is the co-founder and CEO of Skysthelimit.org, a tech non-profit that connects underserved young entrepreneurs with experienced business advisors and mentors in the United States. Bo leads a team of 20 people at skysthelimit.org, and has raised over $4 million in support of their mission.
WED
Oscar Recio
Human Resource Vice President, Nestlé Colombia
General speaker
Oscar Recio is the Human Resources Vice President at Nestlé Colombia, company in which he belongs since 2000, where he is accountable for the people agenda within the Operational Board for the Market and for the complete HR Shared Functional Services for all Business in the Market.
WED
Bady Acuña Franco
Executive Director, Perspektiva
General speaker
Bady is the Executive Director of Perspektiva in Peru. He has over 20 years of experience in social and economic programmes in Latin America, generating opportunities for participatory development with articulation of public and private actors. The last decade, saw an active commitment in the promotion of employment through youth enterprises.
WED
Hélène M. Van der Roest
Regional Manager Central Eastern and Southern Africa, ICCO
General speaker
Hélène is the Regional Manager for ICCO Cooperation leading 10 country teams in Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. ICCO Cooperation is global development enterprise, established in the Netherlands in 1964 with the vision to fight poverty and injustice.
WED
Bat-Orshikh Erdenebat
Programme Manager, Youth Business Mongolia
General speaker
Bat-Orshikh Erdenebat has been working as a Programme Manager for YBI member, Youth Business Mongolia, since 2013. He has more than 10 years experience of development practice focused on design and implementation of local community and business development programmes in peri-urban and rural areas.
WED
Camilo Peláez Gomez
Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Home Burgers
General speaker
Camilo Pelaez is Home Burger's Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Culinary Arts and Management from the Culinary Institute of America. Before founding Home Burgers, he worked in several restaurants in New York City, including Chipotle Mexican Grill where he was part of their Management Training Programme.
WED
Heidi Strawson
Global Giving, Corporate Citizenship Accenture
General speaker
Heidi is a pioneer of Accenture's goal to equip people with the skills they need to get a job or start a business. She is a passionate advocate of inclusion and diversity, managing a portfolio of high value partnerships with non-profit organizations spanning multi-million and multi-year commitments that reach scale and impact.
WED
Dan Ouimet
Vice president, Futurpreneur Canada
General speaker
Futurpreneur Canada is a national, non-profit organization that provides financing, mentoring and support tools to aspiring business owners aged 18-39. Their internationally recognized mentoring program hand matches young entrepreneurs with a business expert from a network of more than 2,800 volunteer mentors.
WED
Namita Datta
Head and Coalition Manager of Solutions for Youth Employment, World Bank
General speaker
Namita is the Head and Coalition Manager of S4YE, a multistakeholder global programme that brings together multilaterals, bilateral organisations, private sector, think tanks and civil society on the agenda of youth employment.
WED
Chad Littlefield
Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer, We and Me, Inc.
Keynote speaker
Chad is the co-founder of We and Me, Inc - an organisation whose mission is to create conversations that matter. Chad is a TEDx speaker, author of the Pocket Guide to Facilitating Human Connections, and creator of We! Connect Cards used in over 80 countries around the world.
WED
Branka Minic
Founder, Future Work Consulting
General speaker
Branka spent 17 years with ManpowerGroup, the world leading organisation in innovative workforce solutions. She has extensive experience in labor market and skill gap analysis and her research deals with innovative policies and best practices to reduce youth unemployment.
THURS
Sarah Eldon
Director of Development, Youth Business International
General speaker
Sarah has 15 years’ experience in the charity and NGO sector having worked in fundraising, communications and programme management. Sarah recently returned to the UK after spending six years overseas in North Africa, the Middle East and Sub Saharan Africa.
THURS
Emilia McElvenney
Head of Development, Youth Business International
General speaker
Emilia is delivering global partnerships at YBI with institutions, corporates and leading foundations and helping members to build organisational sustainability. She has been working in the humanitarian and development sector for the last 10 years. Most recently, Emilia worked in Turkey with Syrian refugees, Iraq with displaced populations and Liberia as part of the Ebola response.
THURS
Ricardo Triana
Executive Director and CEO, Colombian American Enterprise Council
General speaker
Ricardo is the Executive Director and CEO of the Council of American Enterprises, CEA, an association founded in 1962 with more than a hundred US companies as affiliates. Before this, he served as director of the Colombian Government Trade Bureau in Washington D.C. Ricardo was also Central America and Panama Director for ProColumbia, the Colombian promotion agency for exports, foreign direct investment and tourism.
THURS
Ariel Marcos Tito Correa
Regional Manager, MANQ’A
General speaker
Ariel is a specialist in development programs with 14 years’ experience working in the not-for profit sector. He is currently Regional Manager of MANQ’A, an organisation that seeks to generate life opportunities by training young, low-income youths as chefs and culinary entrepreneurs in Bolivia and Colombia.
THURS
Anibal Pinto
Executive Director, Acción Emprendedora
General speaker
Anibal is a Chilean Lawyer with a master’s in law and international development policies. He is Founder and Executive Director of NGO Acción Emprendedora and of Bolsa Emergente, a fintech company. Anibal is a former Dean of the School of Economics and Business at San Sebastian University and a former Advisor to the Minister of Economy.
THURS
Andrea Dalla Palma
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist, Youth Business International
General speaker
Andrea is responsible for the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning of the Youth Entrepreneurship Program for Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to joining YBI, Andrea was in charge for the monitoring and evaluation of the projects funded by Barrick Mining Company within its CSR strategy in Peru.
THURS
Jessica Greenhalf
Director of Learning and Influence, Youth Business International
General speaker
Jessica is responsible for creating the culture, structures and capabilities to drive learning across the YBI network. She has over ten years’ experience in the non-profit sector in a variety of roles. She has worked for Restless Development as Country Director in Uganda, for Plan UK on their youth portfolio, and most recently for Bond in their Effectiveness team.
THURS
Christoph Juenger
International Director Fundraising and Communications, Light for the World International
General speaker
Christoph is a passionate leader, fundraising manager and change agent. He worked for a decade as a Senior Management Consultant focused on Non-Profit/Public Management and as a Project Leader within the Telecommunications sector. In 2011 he joined SOS Children’s Villages International as Head of Individual Giving going on to serve as their International Director of Fund Development.
THURS
Anita Tiessen
Chief Executive Officer, Youth Business International
General Speaker
Anita leads the global network’s efforts to connect members, partners and young people to develop and scale new solutions that leverage the power of entrepreneurship to drive social and economic change. Before joining YBI in 2018, Anita was CEO of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
THURS
Lakshmi Venkataraman Venkatesan
Founding and Managing Trustee, Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust
General Speaker
An alma mater of Delhi University, India and New York University, USA, Ms. Venkatesan holds two Master Degrees in Physics and Engineering Science. After spending nearly two decades abroad, Ms. Venkatesan set up Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST) in 1992 with the objective of fostering entrepreneurship among the underprivileged youth who lack resources to start their own ventures.
THURS
Adenike Adeyemi
Executive Director, FATE Foundation
General speaker
As the head of Nigeria's foremost enterprise development non-profit, Adenike leads the fulfilment of FATE Foundation's mission to enable aspiring and emerging Nigerian entrepreneurs start, grow and scale their businesses.
THURS
Sir Malcolm Williamson
Chair of trustees, Youth Business International
General speaker
Sir Malcolm worked for Barclays Bank PLC from 1957 to 1985. In 1989, he joined Standard Chartered PLC and became Group Chief Executive. In 1998, he moved to San Francisco, USA, as President and CEO of Visa International until 2004. Sir Malcolm’s current non-executive roles are Chairman of Friends Life Group Limited, NewDay Group Ltd, the Cass Business School Strategy and Development Board and the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation.
THURS
Juan David Aristizábal
President and Founder, Los Zúper
Keynote speaker
Juan David Aristizábal is the Founder and President of Los Zúper, a non-profit organisation equipping young people with the skills needed in the 21st century. Forbes magazine listed Juan on its 30 Under 30 list as a leader in using media to connect Colombians to socially-minded initiatives and engaging the broader community in their development.
THURS
Maritza Vela
Private Sector Project Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank
General speaker
Maritza Vela is a Specialist of the BID Lab, a fund established to promote private sector development in Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by the Inter-American Development Bank. Ms. Vela has more than 15 years of experience in the design and supervision of projects in sustainable tourism, workforce development, and entrepreneurship.
THURS
Heidi Strawson
Global Giving, Corporate Citizenship Accenture
General speaker
Heidi is a pioneer of Accenture's goal to equip people with the skills they need to get a job or start a business. She is a passionate advocate of inclusion and diversity, managing a portfolio of high value partnerships with non-profit organizations spanning multi-million and multi-year commitments that reach scale and impact.
THURS
Chad Littlefield
Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer, We and Me, Inc.
Keynote speaker
Chad is the co-founder of We and Me, Inc - an organisation whose mission is to create conversations that matter. Chad is a TEDx speaker, author of the Pocket Guide to Facilitating Human Connections, and creator of We! Connect Cards used in over 80 countries around the world.
THURS
Ian Gray
Founder, Gray Dot Catalyst
General Speaker
Ian Gray is the Founder of Gray Dot Catalyst, a strategy, innovation and partnering consultancy. Before founding Gray Dot Catalyst Ian spent the previous 10 years as a leader in the Humanitarian and Development sectors, covering strategy, programmes, policy and innovation.
FRI
Anita Tiessen
Chief Executive Officer, Youth Business International
General Speaker
Anita leads the global network’s efforts to connect members, partners and young people to develop and scale new solutions that leverage the power of entrepreneurship to drive social and economic change. Before joining YBI in 2018, Anita was CEO of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
FRI
Sir Malcolm Williamson
Chair of trustees, Youth Business International
General speaker
Sir Malcolm worked for Barclays Bank PLC from 1957 to 1985. In 1989, he joined Standard Chartered PLC and became Group Chief Executive. In 1998, he moved to San Francisco, USA, as President and CEO of Visa International until 2004. Sir Malcolm’s current non-executive roles are Chairman of Friends Life Group Limited, NewDay Group Ltd, the Cass Business School Strategy and Development Board and the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation.
FRI
Maritza Vela
Private Sector Project Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank
General speaker
Maritza Vela is a Specialist of the BID Lab, a fund established to promote private sector development in Latin America and the Caribbean and managed by the Inter-American Development Bank. Ms. Vela has more than 15 years of experience in the design and supervision of projects in sustainable tourism, workforce development, and entrepreneurship.
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