International Migrants’ Day 2022: Empowering youth on the move

We are marking International Migrants’ Day 2022!

This International Migrants’ Day(18 December), we are taking the opportunity to raise awareness of the challenges that young displaced people face in their host communities and how entrepreneurship can set up a base for integration and inclusion.

At the beginning of the year a war struck Ukraine and since then we have been working together with our member Youth Business Poland (YBP) to support young entrepreneurs who had to leave their countries due to the conflict. We created BEST by Futuremakers, which is funded by Standard Chartered, to transform the prospects and livelihoods of youth on the move. 

YBP’s Project Manager, Alona Kaczorowska, is working directly on the implementation of BEST by Futuremakers and she has kindly agreed to share some insights and success stories with us.

Our organisation has supported Ukrainian people with employment or opening a business – understanding the local market and regulations better.

In June, YBP together with Youth Business International, began BEST by Futuremakers, funded by Standard Chartered, to give vital emergency support to over 10,000 Ukrainians that had fled their country to start a new life in Poland. Since then, our organisation has supported Ukrainian people with employment or opening a business – understanding the local market and regulations better.

We organise business mixers, webinars, and provide advisory services on company creation and job search.

We do this through the support of our mentors. We organise business mixers, webinars, and provide advisory services on company creation and job search. With our partners and the biggest migration point, Ukrainian House, we have helped over 1,000 people by giving individual consultations on job searching, setting up a company, and law and regulations. Different businesses apply to us from industries like beauty, foodtech, IT, marketing and more.  

Success Stories!

One of our beneficiaries is Polina Khlibanovska. She had a private English-speaking kindergarten in Ukraine called Smart. Before the war started, they had successfully taught and raised over 50 children. In September, they were planning to celebrate 9 years of kindergarten. They had the best reviews and the best results. Children could communicate quite fluently in English and the kindergarten was full of life and joy. But after the war started, reopening of the kindergarten was not safe for the children and staff. Polina was forced to move to Poland with her son. When she moved, she looked into the possibility of opening a kindergarten in Warsaw. She heard about our project, BEST by Futuremakers, and turned to us for help. We provided Polina with information on the nuances of a kindergarten business, including accounting and taxation. We also connected her with an expert in this field, who offered SOS mentorship and advice on opportunities for her business. 

From BEST by Futuremakers, I received the advice of a lawyer and an accountant, getting to know the mentor gave me even more strength.

“Thank you to BEST by Futuremakers for your support! In Ukraine I was forced to close my private kindergarten because of the war. So, I decided to open a kindergarten in Warsaw. I came to the YBP’s office a week after arriving in Poland. The meeting was warm and full of hope to make my business a reality. Morally, it was very difficult, the emotional swings were very strong (and still are!). But I found such support that I had to follow through with the decision to open a business in Poland (caring for Ukrainian children and creating jobs!). From BEST by Futuremakers, I received the advice of a lawyer and an accountant, getting to know my mentor gave me even more strength. And thanks to networking meetings, I found new colleagues and inspiring stories! Thank you for your support and cooperation at such an important time for our country!” Polina Khlibanovska, BEST Project participant.

Another of our beneficiaries is Karen Gochikyan from Belarus , who fled the war in Ukraine and came to Poland looking for a new home. He arrived with nothing and had to start from zero once again. Now he and his team are creating educational Python courses. 

We were lucky to meet BEST by Futuremakers’ team from Youth Business Poland. Our cooperation has become very fruitful.

“It is always difficult to start your own business from scratch, and if you move to a first, then a second country in a year because of war, this becomes an extremely difficult task. We were lucky to meet BEST by Futuremakers’ team from Youth Business Poland. Our cooperation has become very fruitful: we received help from brilliant mentors for our project, there were invitations to interesting lectures, and we got to meet like-minded people. In the future, we also plan to actively network and implement our ideas.” Karen Gochikyan, BEST Project participant.

The project has also helped over 50 young women and men to develop their business skills, knowledge, and career development by pairing them with employees of Standard Chartered and mentors from various businesses within the community. This was achieved through an SOS Mentoring programme where participants could discuss their thoughts, questions and concerns individually with mentors and senior management teams from Standard Chartered.

YBP joined the YBI Network in 2005, their mission is to develop entrepreneurship and provide comprehensive support to young people so they can fully develop their potential, create stable businesses and create new jobs. Find out more about YBP here.