YESL hosts Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008

Millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement from November 17 to 23 to generate new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things. Thousands of activities are being planned in more than fifty countries from around the world.

Global Entrepreneurship Week is founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Make Your Mark campaign; sponsored by NYSE Euronext, IBM and Ernst & Young; and, supported by JA Worldwide, Endeavour, Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, DECA, National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Young Americas Business Trust, Lisbon Council, YES - European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs and Cartha.

The Most Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs 2007.

Young Entrepreneurs Sri Lanka (YESL) being the host for Sri Lanka is organizing the Global Entrepreneurship Week for the first time in our country.

YESL is the pioneering organisation in inspiring young people to value free enterprise, business and economics and to improve their quality of life and to succeed in a global economy.

YESL was launched in 1998 in nine schools with 1600 children and now has expanded to urban and mostly in rural areas. Educational materials are researched, tested and proven worldwide. Millions of dollars are spent continuously for upgrading.

YESL provide Young Sri Lanka citizens with Practical Business, Economics and Entrepreneurship Education programs and experiences in the free enterprise system in partnership with the business and education communities and to train them to be workforce ready.

Plans for the week will commence with the Annual National Young Entrepreneurs Award Ceremony which is scheduled on November 17, 2008, and proceed with many unique activities.

We are hoping to partner with many business Organisations and foundations for funding and also gaining their active participation in giving out the best for the young crowd that would participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Week in Sri Lanka.

The global day themes on the week include the speed network the Globe day, Women and Entrepreneurship Day and Clean and Green Day. YESL is also hoping to have a special day for Social Entrepreneurship.

Countries all around the world are joining together to carry the banner of Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative aimed at young people everywhere. During the week of November 17 to 23, 2008, partner organisations will conduct a range of activities - from simple speeches to comprehensive competitions - designed to inspire, connect, inform, mentor and engage the next generation of entrepreneurs.

The Week is a worldwide initiative that is linking all those willing to embrace it. Host organisations in each participating country are recruiting partners and coordinating related activities. The exact type of these activities, whether online or face-to-face, is limited only by the imaginations of the partners and the participants.

And while a list of suggested activities such as inventions competitions, entrepreneurship film festivals, networking events, school-based activities, and local entrepreneurship summits - will be available on the website, the actual activities conducted by partners will vary greatly.

And while it may be global in scope, at its heart, the Week is a local initiative that reflects the customs and entrepreneurial culture of each community. After all, what works in Boise, Idaho might be quite different from what works in Bangalore, India.

Derana Television is joining hands with Young Entrepreneurs Sri Lanka as the electronic media partner for the Global Entrepreneurship Week Sri Lanka.

Derana plans to provide extensive media coverage locally for the Young Entrepreneurs Week to make it a grand success, as Derana believes strongly in the value of entrepreneurship for the development of the nation.

Overall, the Week will tap into a culture with a passion for networking. It will blend into the fabric of everyday life, engaging young people in school, at home, on the web and at work.

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

Under the vision of “Grooming Children for a better future” YESL hope to attract students in the JA/YESL High School Programme, their Alumni Students and University Students Islandwide and an open invitation to all youngsters who have the entrepreneurial spirit.

Any organisation can register as a partner and become a sponsor for our country and also to be an active participant in conducting activities at the Global Entrepreneurship Week 08’.

“This is a very good opportunity for the Business Community, Civil Society and the successful Entrepreneurs in our country to help grooming the Young Entrepreneurs from Schools” President of Young Entrepreneurs Sri Lanka Patrick Amarasinghe said.

YESL invites all who would support Entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka to join us in the Global Entrepreneurship Week. Be a partner in Grooming our children for a better future. Visit www.unleashingideas.org.