In 2015, Global Entrepreneurship Week events and activities reached an estimated 10 million people in 160 countries – a strong impact for the global entrepreneurship community. But for local communities and countries, the successes of GEW celebrations have a much more tangible effect.
In Canada, GEW host Futurpreneur launched a new initiative called GEW Canada: On the Road. The initiative included a contest to uncover three young Canadians to act as Global Entrepreneurship Week ambassadors and digital storytellers. Winners received a trip around Canada, where they met with young entrepreneurs, visited local businesses and attended events.
The ambassadors reported live on Twitter as they traveled during GEW. The experience provided impact for Canada twofold – businesses, partners and local entrepreneurs received coverage on social media, and the ambassadors themselves received hands-on information and networking connections.
Across the globe in Africa, Zambia has developed the My Job + Plus One as a two-way career path strategy. This path is through the promotion of entrepreneurship as an alternative option to employment, and it also encourages students and graduates to either consider self-employment and employing another.
GEW Nepal host, Samriddhi, celebrated GEW with local entrepreneurs and cooperative members of Achham and Kailali by conducting two training programs in Achham to boost entrepreneurial thinking and skills. This helped local entrepreneurs who all have a small startup enterprise or are in the process of building one.
“The training on entrepreneurship has been successful,” said Rewanti Bohora, a goat farmer who began her business with two goats, and now runs a farm of 35. “I believe I can do something substantial in my own village.”
Bohora said post-training, she realized that “despite not having much money, one could still use local resources to become an able entrepreneur, if one puts their heart into it.”
Information provided by individual country hosts.