Youth-Co, the Online Youth Entrepreneur Community
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"Youth-Co, the Online Youth Entrepreneur Community", a presentation given by Ron van den Akker of Child & Youth Finance International, to the main plenary on 23 May at the United Nations as part of "A Chance for Change: Child and Youth Finance and the Post-2015 Agenda". http://www.childfinanceinternational.org #UNforYouth #CYFI2014
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Youth-Co, the Online Youth Entrepreneur Community
- 1. - The Online Youth Entrepreneur Community Youth-Co New York City, 23 May 2014 1
- 2. 2 400 320 74 16 Population NL Population US # Jobs that need to be created in 10 years Global Youth unemployment Source: ILO, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013: A generation at risk
- 3. 3 400 320 73 16 Population NL Global Youth unemployment # Jobs that need to be created in 10 years Population US X 4.5 Source: ILO, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013: A generation at risk
- 4. 4 400 73 16 320 Global Youth unemployment Population NL Population US# Jobs that need to be created in 10 years X 25 Source: ILO, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013: A generation at risk
- 5. 5 400 73 16 320 Global Youth unemployment Population NL Population US# Jobs that need to be created in 10 years X 25 Source: ILO, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013: A generation at risk
- 6. Youth-Co aims to create the world’s largest online community of youth entrepreneurs, thereby supporting youth entrepreneurship, promoting ethical entrepreneurial culture and stimulating job creation. Mission statement CYFI’s new initiative: Youth-Co To create an online platform reaching 10 million youth entrepreneurs by 2020 Objective 6
- 7. Why CYFI Global youth network CYFI partner network reaching 18+ million children and youth Global partners & stakeholders network Alliance with over 300 organizations from various sectors YouthTech Blog Technology and innovations blog reaching over 100 countries National platforms and outreach Policy change and advocacy in 125 countries 7
- 8. Youth-Co: 6 pillars of support Blog E- Commu nity Coaching Funding Youth-led and youth co-created Policy Change Library & Courses 8
- 9. Starting a BusinessStarting a Business Running a Business Running a Business Growing a Business Growing a Business Library & courses E-Community Coaching Funding Life Cycle ( ) Entrepreneurs at various stages require and receive different types of support Blog 9
- 11. 0~3 months 3~6 months 6~12 months 12~18 months 18~24 months Assess needs of young ent- repreneurs: o Survey o Focus groups o In-depth interviews Build platform prototype Announce launch (today!) Build platform Build partnerships/ community with: o Local entrepre- neurial hubs o Educational institutions o Investment institutions Further develop learning curriculum Further build community and link coaches to entrepreneurs Monitor and filter out high potentials for funding Establish funding cycle Continuously develop platform Build app Assess impact Year 1 Continuously develop platform Feb 2014: Research & Preparation Build and launch plat- form; build partnerships Continue building community and content Establish funding cycle and ongoing development Assessment of Year 1 NOW The Youth-Co prototype is going live today! HIGH-LEVEL TIMELINE
- 12. Our Youth-Co Partners so far (and many other discussions underway) •Join the Community! Join the COmmunity! 12
- 13. And we’re looking for more partners! 13 • Entrepreneurial networks to further Introduce Youth-Co to young entrepreneurs worldwide (e.g. entrepreneur hubs, incubators, NGOs, unis) • Educational partners to co-develop the curriculum and online courses on entrepreneurship (e.g. international organizations, universities) • Coaching partners to add experienced professionals to our coaching program (e.g. coaching networks and organizations, individuals) • Funding platforms to further develop funding opportunities for young entrepreneurs seeking growth (e.g. microfinance institutions, private equity, investment funds, crowdsourcing platform, angel investors) • Strategic partners to support and sponsor CYFI in rolling out Youth-Co globally (e.g. foundations, international organizations, corporates)
- 14. www.childfinanceinternational.org ChildFinance ChildFinance www.childfinanceinternational.org Contact email: ron@childfinance.org Youth-Co 14
- 15. Deep dives on strategic thrusts Thrust Elements Blog Inspirational stories from youth entrepreneurs Library and courses E-Community Funding Coaching Policy change (indirectly) Gallery of online entrepreneurship resources (e.g. templates) Online entrepreneurship courses with top university(ies) Connecting young entrepreneurs online for peer support Knowledge exchange among peers Networking among peers Online coaching with experts with experience in entrepreneurship, private equity, management consulting, accounting, industry, etc. Linking to micro finance institutions for low-interest loans Linking to other business for mergers and collaborations Linking high growth potential business to private equity firms Reaching out directly to angel investors Advocating for legal system to facilitate youth entrepreneurship Advocating for favorable tax treaties for youth owned enterprises 15
- 16. Youth-Co Targets young entrepreneurs in all stages of their adventure Young entrepreneurs (16-30) In various stages of their adventure: Starting a business Running a business Growing a business Philosophy An inclusive philosophy, so we aim to reach out to as many motivated youth as possible 16
- 17. Connect to other entrepre- neurs and partner up (also off- line!) Participate in E- Community discussion and share learnings Access online resources: Find templates for your business plan and accounting Example of a user path Register & create a profile on Youth-Co Participate in online learning courses on online marketing Attract investors through the funding portal Inspire and support other youth entrepreneurs by sharing your success story Get an experienced coach to help you write your growth strategy ILLUSTRATIVE 17
- 18. How Youth-Co differs from other initiatives • By youth for youth – The Youth-Co platform is created for youth, by youth. • All-in-one platform – Youth-Co offers not just coaching, or resources, or funding. Young entrepreneurs can find it all here and use different services throughout their maturing cycle • International scope and experience – Many existing initiatives are national or regional platforms. We connect entrepreneurs, coaches and funders across borders, on a global scale • Peer-to-peer support – Youth-Co allows entrepreneurs to connect amongst each other, to get advice or other kinds of support from successful entrepreneurs • Grass-roots connections – through CYFI’s growing network, we cannot only reach the usual suspects – e.g. the app builder from Silicon Valley – but also the promising entrepreneurs from sub-saharan Africa • Engine for policy change – Youth-Co will feed into ánd benefit from CYFI’s strong lobby to create more favourable legal and tax systems for young entrepreneurs • Bringing existing initiatives together – CYFI’s core strength is bringing organizations from different fields together. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel – great initiatives already exist. However, they do not always talk to each other. We’d like to change this. 18
- 19. About the Child and Youth Finance Movement A global movement that aims to reshape the future of finance to ensure that every child and young person •Believes in himself/herself •Knows about money •Has a bank account to save for their future •Has a job or starts an enterprise •Financially engage with the greater society The Movement was launched in 2012 with the ambition to reach a 100 million children and youth in a 100 countries. And it has already exceeded the first milestone 19
Editor's Notes
- Hi, I’m Ron, and I’m the innovations manager at Child & Youth Finance International. The reason I’m here, to me, is actually fantastic. I first got in touch with Child & Youth Finance International through my previous employer, a very well-known consultancy firm that does pro bono work for CYFI. I was working there during the crisis, so some of the work involved “optimizing operational efficiency”. Large corporates had to cut costs and thus jobs and they often needed advice on how to do that. To be frank, I really enjoyed my time as a consultant, but I hated that part of the work. Now, however, I’m here to talk to you about how to create jobs! And this makes me very happy. First however, on to some of the tremendous challanges we face.
- Almost 73 million youth worldwide are looking for work. In total, 400 million new jobs need to be created to absorb new entrants on the labor markets over the next 10 years. To me, these numbers are incredible. To get our heads around it, I need to compare it to some other statistics…For instance, my country, the Netherlands, medium sized country has somewhere between 16 and 17 million inhabitants. So there is 4.5 times as many youth – just youth – looking for jobs at the moment, than there are people (of all ages), living in my country. Incredible. Even more astounding is the fact that we need to create 25 times as many jobs, just to absorb the new entrants on the job market, than there are people in the Netherlands. This is also 25% more than there are people living in the US. And we’re thinking that President Obama has a challenge. He’s looking at a total – not just youth – unemployment nr of around 10 million. Absolutely nothing compared to this global challenge. CYFI sees entrepreneurship as one of the main solutions to this tremendous challenge. We have therefore decided to start the has Youth-Co initiative
- CYFI sees entrepreneurship as one of the main solutions to this tremendous challenge. We have therefore decided to start the Youth-Co initiative The mission? To create the world’s largest online community of youth entrepreneurs, thereby supporting youth entrepreneurship, promoting ethical entrepreneurial culture and stimulating job creation. We set the ambitious targets – as we do at CYFI - to reach 10 million youth by 2020 (The seed for Youth-Co was actually planted at our summit in Istanbul last year. Bringing together youth and stakeholders, we noticed a high need for support for young entrepreneurs, in terms of training, resources, and legislation. So that is what we are planning to offer.)
- As CYFI, we think we’re ideally positioned to take this role, for a number of reasons: -We are talking to the youth to learn what they want. -We have a tremendous partners and stakeholders network with more than 300 organizations in various sectors -We already have the YouthTech blog, which has some traction and provides us with a useful network -We are already dedicated to policy change and advocacy in 125 countries.
- Basically, Youth-Co offers 6 pillars of support, of which 5 are tools and resources that can be accessed online. Number 6 is the advocacy that we do and will continue to do as Child & Youth Finance International. Regarding the online platform: Here young entrepreneurs can find: -An inspiring blog with success stories of young entrepreneurs, such as the story of our friend Barclay here. -Library & courses where we have already gathered online courses on all relevant topics for young entrepreneurs, ranging from accounting to leadership skills, from creativity courses to classes on operations -E-community, which is most easily described as LinkedIn for young entrepreneurs, but then easier in use (and without premium membership fees!). It allows entrepreneurs to look for fellow (aspiring) entrepreneurs by filtering on geography, sector, and/or skills. It gives them opportunities for peer support, networking, and partnering -Then there is the coaching’s program, which is already underway! We pair up experienced professionals with young entrepreneurs, based on the need of the entrepreneur. For this, we have already partnered up with Bankers without Borders and PUM, the Netherlands senior expert network, that gives us access to 4000 experienced coaches from all disciplines -We also want to link entrepreneurs to funding partners to grow their business.
- Our target group is all entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs between the ages of 16 and 30, all over the world. Which is actually great news for me since I am 29 and an entrepreneur myself, but I promise that this is not the reason we set this age limit However, the type of support we will provide, depends on the maturity of the entrepreneur’s business. If the entrepreneur is starting a business, he can use the blog, library and be part of the e-community. If they are in business already, they can apply for a coach (for free). If they have a promising and scalable business, they would be eligible for funding through our partners.
- We already made a prototype of the website, for entrepreneurs to use. E.g. the blog, library, and the coaching program are already in place. These are some print screens of what it looks like
- So, the prototype is live today. Next steps is finding more partners and further develop the prototype into a full blown website that is accessible from places with low bandwidth and to build an app
- We are proud that we can already announce some partners even before the launch of our prototype, e.g. UNCTAD, BwB, Commonwealth of Asian Alliance of young entrepreneurs and PUM. And there is many more discussions underway.
- So, if you agree with us that youth unemployment is one of the major challenges we face globally today, and you believe that entrepreneurship is part of the solution, why don’t you consider partnering up with us. Just send me an email or talk to me in the breaks or after the meeting today
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