Ideas Bank

ideas bank

Bring Global Entrepreneurship Week to life in your community. 

The Global Entrepreneurship Week Ideas Bank is a curated collection of event formats, campaigns, and programming concepts that can be adapted, tailored to your community, and made your own. These ideas are intended to be a source of inspiration, not a prescriptive formula. Every campaign looks different.  

HOW IT WORKS

01 | Explore the Ideas

Every idea is tagged by audience type so you can filter for what works in your context.

02 | Adapt it for Your Community

Each concept is a starting point, not a script. Adjust the format, scale, and focus to fit where you are and who you serve.

03 | Run An Event

Host your event November 16–22, 2026 and add it to the global map of Global Entrepreneurship Week programming.

A QUICK NOTE ABOUT TARGET AUDIENCES

Global Entrepreneurship Week reaches people who have never seen entrepreneurship as a path for them. They aren't hard to find: they're in every country, every community, and every walk of life. What they have in common isn't background or circumstance — it's simply that no one has ever shown them that entrepreneurship could be for them too. 

GEN has created a list of sample personas (target audience personalities and traits) to help you tailor your campaign to these new audiences.

girls with dogs in park
The General Public

They haven't thought about entrepreneurship, not because they've rejected it, but because it's never shown up in their world in a way that felt relevant. The most important thing this campaign can do for this audience is make entrepreneurship visible, local, and human.

Explore the Ideas Bank

young male
The Next Gen Explorer

Young people who are curious, ambitious, and searching for direction, but haven't been shown that building something of their own is a real option. They don't need to be convinced that the world needs changing. They need to be convinced that they're the ones who can do it.

Explore the Ideas Bank

black female
The Underrepresented Builder

They have the ideas, the drive, and often the deepest understanding of the problems worth solving. What they haven't had is access to networks, capital, mentors, and spaces that were built for someone else. This campaign meets them where they are.

Explore the Ideas Bank

asian female
The Anxious Professional

They're employed, but feeling unsettled. Automation is reshaping their industry, and they know it. They're not looking for a side hustle; they're looking for a new path that puts them back in control.

Explore the Ideas Bank

father and son
The Stability Seeker

They're drawn to the idea of entrepreneurship but held back by real risk: financial obligations, family responsibilities, or simply no safety net. They don't need to be inspired. They need to see a practical, low-risk first step that fits the life they already have.

Explore the Ideas Bank

mother and daughter
The Problem Owner

They're already solving problems in their community, their workplace, and their neighborhood. They just don't call it entrepreneurship. Our job is to show them that the word belongs to them too, and that there's a whole ecosystem ready to back them. 

Explore the Ideas Bank

Together We Build Futures: Careers in Entrepreneurship

Create an expo-style event where young professionals, career changers, and curious community members can explore 
paths into entrepreneurship—whether as founders, early team members, or ecosystem supporters. Feature interactive 
stations, mentorship chats, and storytelling booths.

"Micro-Grant for Micro-Solutions" Problem Owner Fund
Target Audience
Community members with a clear problem and a rough idea; people who have been solving problems informally and need a first resource

A Global Entrepreneurship Week micro-grant program awarding small amounts of practical support (not investment capital) to individuals who can articulate a real problem and a first step toward solving it. Applications are kept deliberately simple — one page, plain language — and judged by a panel that includes community members rather than investors, with awards made publicly during Global Entrepreneurship Week to generate awareness and inspire further applications.

"From Staff Meeting to Startup" Panel
Target Audience
Mid-career professionals aged 30–50; employees in corporate or public sector roles considering a transition

A lunch-time or after-work panel event featuring three to five founders who made the transition from stable employment to entrepreneurship and are willing to talk honestly about the financial timeline, the fear, the moment of decision, and what they wish they had tested earlier. Held in a neutral professional venue (not a startup hub) and promoted through employer channels and professional associations. 

 

Founders Trail
Target Audience
General public passing through public spaces; community members of all backgrounds and ages

Get independent local businesses to display a Global Entrepreneurship Week sign during the week, publish a self-guided map of the trail, and offer local press a built-in photo opportunity, a community activity, and a ready-made feature about the people who already built something on their high street.

"Side Hustle" Pop-Up Market
Target Audience
Young entrepreneurs aged 16–26 already running a small venture; youth communities and urban public spaces

A one-day public market event during Global Entrepreneurship Week that gives young people with existing side projects a free stall to sell, display, or demonstrate what they have built. Creates a visible, public celebration of young enterprise in the community while offering informal business support and mentor drop-ins throughout the day.

"Builders in Our Community" School Take-Home Campaign
Target Audience
Parents and families of school-age children; school communities and parent-teacher associations

A campaign delivered through schools in the form of a simple take-home resource during Global Entrepreneurship Week — a conversation starter, a short family activity, and a local event listing — designed to make entrepreneurship a dinner table conversation for families who would never otherwise encounter it. Teachers are encouraged to introduce Global Entrepreneurship Week in one class or assembly, and parents are invited to participate in a free community event or connect with a local resource.

 

"Someone Should Fix This" Sector Problem-Solving Day
Target Audience
Anyone who works in, uses, or is affected by a sector — employees, customers, caregivers, community members, and everyday people who have noticed something that doesn't work

A sector-focused event that starts with one simple invitation: bring a problem you've seen, experienced, or lived. Hosted in partnership with a relevant employer, community organization, or professional association, the event helps participants — regardless of their background or credentials — turn everyday frustrations into clear problem statements and explore what it might look like to solve them. The format works in any sector and for any audience: run it with teachers, patients, logistics workers, farmers, parents, or retail staff — anyone who has ever thought 'why does this work this way?' is the right person to be in the room. 

"Share a Local Business You Love" Social Activation
Target Audience
General social media users; consumers and community members across all demographics

The simplest possible Global Entrepreneurship Week public action: a coordinated one-week social media campaign asking people to share, tag, or review a local business they love, with a Global Entrepreneurship Week hashtag that aggregates posts into a public celebration of local enterprise. Requires no commitment, no prior knowledge, and no time — just a post — making it accessible to the broadest possible public audience while building visible momentum for the week.