GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK

For one week, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents are coming together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity. To think big, turn their ideas into reality and make their mark.

From 16 - 22 November 2009, Global Entrepreneurship Week will connect young people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and many others will participate in a range of activities, from online to face-to-face, and from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings.

Through this initiative, the next generation of entrepreneurs will be inspired and can emerge. In doing so, they will begin to acquire the knowledge, skills and networks needed to grow innovative, sustainable enterprises that have a positive impact on their lives, their families and communities.

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008 was a great success and a brilliant example of what can be achieved by bringing together different ideas and cultures around the theme of enterprise. In 2009, we aim to unleash young people's ideas around the issues that matter most to society, from poverty reduction through to climate change, and to foster a global culture which recognizes entrepreneurs as drivers of economic and social prosperity.

Seven days, four goals

Inspire. We introduce entrepreneurship to young people under the age of thirty who otherwise might not have considered it as a career path.

Connect. We network young people and organizations across national boundaries to discover new ideas at the intersection of cultures and disciplines.

Mentor. We enlist active and inspiring entrepreneurs around the world to coach and mentor the next generation of enterprise talent as they pursue their dreams.

Engage. We demonstrate to opinion leaders and policymakers how entrepreneurship is central to a nation's economic health and culture, and give them the opportunity to learn about each other's entrepreneurial policies and practices

WHY ARE WE DOING THE WEEK!

Last week Make Your Mark released a policy briefing that explains why we’re doing Global Entrepreneurship Week. It’s called ‘Taking Entrepreneurship Global’, and is attached. In a nutshell, the argument is:
1. Entrepreneurs are the engines of growth.
2. Entrepreneurs need inspiration, resources and markets to succeed.
3. The world is more connected than ever before. Which opens up new opportunities to find inspiration, resources and markets.
4. This is particularly relevant for young people.
5. So we all need to do more to help young people take advantage of these opportunities.
It ends with recommendations for governments, educationalists, businesses, the media(traditional and on-line/social media), and entrepreneurs. And it says that we need to work together, globally, to do this.