If anything is going to jump start America, it may just be the new generation of entrepreneurs.
I say that because I just spent time in Kansas City as a speaker and mentor at the Youth Entrepreneurship Summit 2011, hosted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and organized by the Youth Entrepreneurship and Sustainability (YES) and Conscious Capitalism Institute (CCI).
The group uses a quotation from Victor Hugo to set the context for their aspirations:
A day will come when there will be no
battlefields, but markets opening to
commerce and minds opening to ideas.
It’s quite the motto to be guided by.
The Youth Entrepreneurship Summit makes it abundantly clear that a fever is spreading through this generation. They’re passionate about business as an agent of change, recognize that business as usual has left them with a planet of diminished resilience, and will do whatever it takes to create a new paradigm for the role of business in our society.
All under the age of 35 years old, they are bright lights in an America that keeps finding reasons for a fundamental shift towards responsibility, sustainability and greater equity.
A notable aspect of the summit was Whole Foods’ commitment to sell and merchandize products developed by the young social entrepreneurs in special sections of stores in the brand’s North-Atlantic region. It was just one example of how the summit takes a holistic approach to developing the capabilities of young entrepreneurs by partnering them with mentors, funders and retailers.
Significant attention was also placed on the development of co-working spaces now numbering over 1,600 worldwide that function as incubation centers where early stage businesses can share working space to elevate the possibilities for collaboration, the sharing of resources and skills, and peer-to-peer mentoring. Green Spaces is one of the most exciting co-working centers right now, located in New York City.
Though I was inspired by all the social enterprises represented, a few stood out:
- Runa, a tea and beverage company that works with indigenous people to share the secrets of the Amazon by creating new markets for products they produce (www.runa.org).
- Susty Party, which enables people to embrace sustainability with bio-based party products (www.SustyParty.com).
- Ginger + Liz Colour Collection, a vegan-friendly, non-toxic line of nail polish (www.gingerandliz.com).
Please let me know what you think of these young entrepreneurs in the comments section below. Who are some young social entrepreneurs that inspire you?
In a follow-up post I’ll review Whole Foods founder John Mackey’s keynote address.
Dear Jeffrey:
You are most certainly ‘preaching to the choir here!’
All the best, sir.
Paul Tasner
Business works if the economic model is inclusive of the environmental costs; read “Plenitude: The new economics of true wealth,” by Juliet B. Schor.
If all they do is regurgitate the same ineffective models and theories; like Growth/more production is the answer, then our problems, and theirs, and their children’s, will only get bigger. It’s time to look and think outside of the box.
As a girl, I love Ginger + Liz Colour Collection 😉
The Recycled Cardboard Pop-Up Party Recycling Bin from SustyParty is a very good idea also!
I cannot find the website of this Youth Entrepreneurship Summit to take a look at other contestants. Do you have it Jeff?
Better Place, the multi-publiziced company shai agasi launched to create a viabable electric automobile network it was burn out of one of this young entrepreneurships forums, where he asisted still when he was working as a senior executive for SAP. Since he was obsesed with the idea of how could he get an entire country, such as his native Israel, run without oil. The answer led him to leave SAP and to initiate Better Place.
I am unsure if i could put Mr agasi in the category of typical social entrepreneurs, as he initiated is cleantech venture with lots of finantial and political back up already from the early beginigs, to diferentiate from many social entrepreneurs that sturggle to get support at the begining. Nevertheless there is no doubt that his innovative business model, that makes driving electric cars as easy as posible,is groundbreaking.
Better Place, the multi-publiziced company shai agasi launched to create a viabable electric automobile network it was burn out of one of this young entrepreneurships forums, where he asisted still when he was working as a senior executive for SAP. Since he was obsesed with the idea of how could he get an entire country, such as his native Israel, run without oil. The answer led him to leave SAP and to initiate Better Place.
I am unsure if i could put Mr agasi in the category of typical social entrepreneurs, as he initiated is cleantech venture with lots of finantial and political back up already from the early beginigs, to diferentiate from many social entrepreneurs that sturggle to get support at the begining. Nevertheless there is no doubt that his innovative business model, that makes driving electric cars as easy as posible,is groundbreaking.