Global Entrepreneurship Week
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Global Entrepreneurship Week is a civil-society initiative to promote the entrepreneurial aspirations of young people everywhere. It runs from 17-23 November 2008. During this week, partner organizations will conduct a range of activities designed to inspire, connect, mentor and engage young people, to help them acquire the knowledge, skills, networks and values needed to grow innovative and sustainable enterprises.
The model for this global initiative is locally-based. Host organizations in each of the participating countries are responsible for recruiting partners, and coordinating national activities. Overlaid upon this are two global activities: Unleash It! and Speednetwork the Globe.
Participating Countries
Hosts from 75 countries are currently involved with the planning and organization of events for the Week. The following countries are represented:
- Africa: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda.
- Americas: Argentina, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, United States, Uruguay.
- Asia: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam.
- Europe: Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Turkey.
- Oceania: Australia, New Zealand.
Activities
General Information
Global Entrepreneurship Week uses a number of methods to reach out to the general public and encourage participation. Part of its mission is to leverage educational and professional networking channels and encourage youth to seize overlooked opportunities. It is a highly Internet-focused campaign, facilitating dialogue and information sharing, helping to achieve greater levels of entrepreneurship across the world. Despite its global scope, the Week is a local initiative driven by community-based activities.
Anticipation for the Week has been highlighted in several articles and websites, including entrepreneur.com, BusinessWire and Stanford University's website.
Unleash It!
This competition, conducted through the main website, is an example of Crowdsourcing. Individuals/organisations upload challenges onto a global database, and individuals/teams from around the world are invited to submit solutions. This global activity is designed to inspire young people to think in an enterprising way, and consider entrepreneurship.
Speednetwork the Globe
This activity is locally-based, with thousands of networking events being organised by hundreds of partners around the world. Speednetworking is a fast-paced version of a standard networking event: every 5 minutes, a whistle is blown by the moderator, and participants are required to change interlocutor. It is seen as a more youth-friendly way of networking[1].
Background
Enterprise Week
Global Entrepreneurship Week is a combination and expansion of two successful initiatives: Entrepreneurship Week USA 2007 and the inspiration behind it, Enterprise Week, which was kicked off in 2004 by then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown.
"Together we can encourage young people to realize and unlock their talents…to bridge the gap between what we are, and what we have it in ourselves to become"
Enterprise Week is an annual week long event in the United Kingdom, where a number of activities target thousands of students and young adults by providing encouragement to pursue their dreams. Enterprise Week will now occur alongside Global Entrepreneurship Week.
In 2007, there were 3,002 partner organizations, 5,270 individual events and 584,000 people attending these events. The largest activity was the Make Your Mark Challenge, which involved 38,000 students grouped in over 7,000 teams. Enterprise Week involved every region in the UK and saw a significant increase in the number of events aimed at women and minorities from the previous year.
Womens Enterprise Day and Social Enterprise Day take place on Wednesday 19th Nov and Thursday 20th Nov of Enterprise Week respectively.
Entrepreneurship Week USA
Entrepreneurship Week USA successfully brought together over 1300 partner organizations in 2007. Along with these partners, 3,707 individual events, and 481,449 participants were involved. The news media reached over 21 million people through the various activities. All 50 United States governors endorsed the Week, along with 350 universities who hosted at least one event.
Founders
"This enterprising spirit—the core of Global Entrepreneurship Week—is an invaluable resource the world must tap as we seek to extend the benefits of economic growth to more people across the globe and address the complex challenges facing us all."
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is based out of Kansas City, Missouri and was founded in the mid-1960’s by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist of the same name. Their two focus areas are entrepreneurship advancement and education improvement for the youth. In entrepreneurship, the Foundation works to catalyze an entrepreneurial society in which job creation, innovation, and the economy flourish. The Kauffman Foundation is the only large American foundation to focus on entrepreneurship and has more than twelve years of in-depth experience in the field. While their work is concentrated in the United States, leaders around the world look to the Foundation for entrepreneurship expertise and guidance. In education the Foundation works with partners to support programs that directly impact a child’s academic achievement, with a concentrated focus on math, science, and technology skills.
Make Your Mark is the brains behind Enterprise Week UK. It is the UK's campaign to give people the confidence, skills and ambition to be more enterprising. Through enterprising experiences, inspiring stories, and working through a network of partners, it encourages enterprise amongst young people in particular. It is funded by BERR, and was founded in 2004 by the UK's four main business organisations - the Confederation of British Industry, Federation of Small Businesses, Institute of Directors, and British Chambers of Commerce .
Global Sponsors
Global Partners
External Links
Official Website
Additional Websites
- http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page13750.asp
- http://www.kauffman.org/items.cfm?itemID=938
- http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.res.01017:
- http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/entry/196552.html
- http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080415005955&newsLang=en
- http://eweek.stanford.edu/global2008/
[[Categories:Entrepreneurship|Global|Gordon Brown|Non-profit|Youth]]
References
- ^ See the Speednetwork the Globe page on the Global Entrepreneurship Week site for further explanation of this concept
- ^ Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister announcing the plans for Global Entrepreneurship Week (November 13, 2007)
- ^ Carl Schramm, President and CEO, Kauffman Foundation