Washington, D.C. - November 16, 2025 - Millions of people and thousands of organizations around the world will join forces this week for Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2025, taking place November 17–23, as events across every continent celebrate, inspire, and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs. In the United States, events are taking place across all 50 states.
An annual movement dedicated to making entrepreneurship accessible to all, Global Entrepreneurship Week shines a spotlight on opportunities for new and aspiring founders in every country and community—particularly those who face structural barriers or who may have never considered the possibilities that come with starting and growing a company. From classrooms to coworking spaces, this week’s activities open doors for anyone who has ever asked, “Could I build something of my own?”
The 2025 theme, “Together We Build,” highlights the collective power of community, collaboration, and shared ambition. It invites people everywhere to explore what’s possible when mentors, peers, partners, and supporters come together to bring ideas to life and build something greater than themselves.
In his opening address, Jonathan Ortmans, co-founder of Global Entrepreneurship Week and president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, which organizes the campaign globally, underscored the role that entrepreneurship plays in uniting a divided world.
“We face a time in our world's history where too many nations have too many things to fight about,” he said. “Entrepreneurs are in many ways the new diplomats, because something we have in common across all national boundaries is a passion to solve, to build, to create, to form teams, and to form communities.
“We hope that during Global Entrepreneurship Week, we can celebrate this entrepreneurial spirit and find new ways to support, collaborate, and connect.”
Adding his voice of encouragement, Mark Cuban—Shark Tank star, investor, philanthropist, and founder of Cost Plus Drugs—shared a simple message with aspiring entrepreneurs participating in Global Entrepreneurship Week:
“Go out and change the world – you can do it.”
Now in its 18th year, Global Entrepreneurship Week will be marked by tens of thousands of events worldwide, each designed to spark inspiration, foster connections, and empower individuals to take the next step forward in their entrepreneurial journey.
Global Entrepreneurship Week Highlights Across the United States include:
- NC IDEA Ecosystem Summit (official launch event): Jonathan Ortmans, founder and president of GEN, officially kicks off the beginning of Global Entrepreneurship Week at the NC IDEA Summit with Thom Ruhe of NC IDEA and Andrew Yang, founder of Venture for America and U.S. presidential candidate in 2020. The 7th annual summit brings together North Carolina's entrepreneurial ecosystem through connection, community, and knowledge sharing Nov. 17-18.
- Techstars Startup Weekend Louisville: Global Entrepreneurship Week kicked off in Louisville with aspiring entrepreneurs gaining the resources, mentorship and skills needed to launch.
- JA 'Be Entrepreneurial' Pitch Competition: Students will present their ventures before a panel of judges made up of local business leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs—competing for recognition and prizes that could help turn their ideas into reality. The competition is a collaboration between Junior Achievement of Central Carolinas and UNC Charlotte’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, hosted at CO-LAB at UNC Charlotte Center City.
- AURP 2025 International Conference: The boldest minds in research parks and innovation districts met in the heart of Las Vegas, hosted by UNLV, ahead of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
- Ecosystem Unfiltered: Your Questions, Their Wisdom: This "Ask Us Anything" session, led by Sourcelink, brings together leaders who are driving entrepreneurship-led economic development in their communities in Virginia, Michigan, Hawaii and West Virginia -- each with a unique approach to building resilient and thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems.
- FedEx Collaboration: FedEx is collaborating with GEN throughout Global Entrepreneurship Week to spotlight founders making a difference and initiatives available to support them.
- Wells Fargo Collaboration: Wells Fargo joins Global Entrepreneurship Week for the first time through an initiative to highlight diverse initiatives to support aspiring new founders.
This is just a snapshot of what's happening around the world. Explore more National Highlights and view all events to find one near you. Don't see your event listed on the calendar? Add yours.
Communities to Watch
More than 250 communities across the United States are expected to hold one or more events during Global Entrepreneurship Week. While a global leaderboard tracks the countries with the most events, the GEW USA homepage features a leaderboard tracking the most active U.S. cities, states and partners.
As GEW officially gets started, here are the top five U.S. cities celebrating (totals as of Sunday, November 16):
- Kansas City: Home of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and always one of, if not the, most active cities during GEW, Kansas City currently has 82 events added to the GEW website. The schedule for the week kicks off with Forging the Future: Collaborating for a Thriving Entrepreneurial Ecosystem at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center. For a closer look at the other events, visit the GEWKC website.
- Muncie: Leading into the June 2025 Global Entrepreneurship Congress, the entire state of Indiana embraced Global Entrepreneurship Week last November. This year, Muncie – a city about 50 miles northeast of Indianapolis – continues to build on that momentum with a current count of 70 events on the GEW 2025 leaderboard.
- Tulsa: Historically, Tulsa has had a strong cast of local partner organizations driving its GEW campaign. This year, the Tulsa City-County Library and Gradient, the city's innovation hub and incubator, are leading the way with 34 events.
- Charlotte: North Carolina is host to the official launch of GEW USA with its NC IDEA Summit in Raleigh. But Charlotte is the city with the most events in the state – and currently fourth in the nation – with 31 events.
- Sacramento: The California state capital may not be as populous as Los Angeles or as synonymous with startups as Silicon Valley, but it leads the way in the state with 29 events during GEW.
Stay tuned for updates throughout the week as many more events are expected to be added to the GEW.CO website.
Join the Conversation Online
Global Entrepreneurship Week is more than a global movement. It’s a global conversation - and your voice has the power to shape it. We invite you to post on social media using #GEW2025 and #TogetherWeBuild to:
- Inspire others who are wondering if they, too, can build something of their own
- Spotlight the work happening in your city, community, or organization
- Celebrate the people who stood by you along the way
- Show the world what it looks like when communities build together
- Strengthen the global conversation about opportunity, innovation, and inclusion
Learn more about how to add your voice to the online dialogue.
Thank You to the 11,000 Organizations Leading the Movement Worldwide
Global Entrepreneurship Week is organized by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and powered by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation with support from strategic partners, including FedEx and Wells Fargo, as well as more than 11,000 organizations acting as national campaign hosts and event organizers around the world. To learn more, visit www.gew.co.