Winners of YBI’s annual awards announced

During the Global Youth Entrepreneurship Summit 2019, Youth Business International (YBI) hosted an awards ceremony to recognise the members who are innovating to meet today’s challenges for youth, the volunteer mentors who give their time to support their mentees, and the young entrepreneurs with exceptional businesses.

The Global Youth Entrepreneurship Summit (GYES) is YBI’s flagship event which brings together network members, leading experts, influencers and decision makers to help shape the future of entrepreneurship. From keynote speeches, panel discussions and workshops featuring some of the industry’s most knowledgeable experts, GYES is a space where practitioners can explore and collaborate on new approaches that better respond to the challenges faced by young entrepreneurs globally.

This year’s GYES highlight was the Summit Awards where we acknowledged the invaluable contribution of the winners, finalists and nominees across our network. By shining a light on these journeys we hope we encouraged many others present to continue inspiring and innovating to create a better ecosystem for young people in today’s ever-changing world of work.

The highly anticipated Awards Ceremony was hosted by Sir Malcolm Williamson, Chair of YBI Board of Trustees, with guests including Maritza Vela of the Inter-American Development Bank, Sir Malcolm Williamson, Chair of Trustees at YBI, Heidi Strawson of Accenture and Boris Tkachenko from Youth Business Russia. We are delighted to announce that this year’s winners are:

Young Entrepreneur of the Year

Winner: Buram Munkshuren, Mongolia

Buram set up Gobi Khan Uran LLC, a community-driven handicraft business, in rural Mongolia. Not only does she bring economic benefits to the local community, she also empowers the women she employs to lead their own social and economic development. Buram received support from YBI member in Mongolia, Youth Business Mongolia.

Runners up:

Abhishek Jacob Chetikatt, Worldish, Sweden

Abhishek co-founded Worldish after moving to Sweden from India. Their service, ‘Helen’ provides real-time translation to people who don’t speak Swedish or English, mainly in medical contexts. Abhishek received support from YBI member in Sweden, NyföretagarCentrum Sverige.

Swapnil Kudale, Sky Power Industries, India

Swapnil’s radiator manufacturing business not only provides employment to 16 people, but it also contributes to the provision of electricity in rural villages across India. Swapnil received support from YBI member in India, Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust.

Mentor Recognition

Winner: Marcele Silva, Brazil

Being a successful entrepreneur was not enough for Marcele. She is now a volunteer mentor with YBI member Aliança Empreendedora, providing guidance and support to entrepreneurs who were in her situation. Marcele is now the proud recipient of the YBI 2019 Mentor Recognition Award thanks to her tireless commitment and dedication to supporting her mentees to succeed.

Runners up:

Yolanda Tarango Julián, Spain

Krishnan Narayanaswami, India

Innovation Awards

This year’s GYES theme is ‘Innovation for Impact’, which perfectly encompasses our collective desire to further the agenda through innovative ideas in order to scale impact.

Our inaugural Innovation Awards recognised not just the success stories but also the failures that arise when organisations take risks and strive to innovate. The winners are:

Successful Innovation: Autoocupació (Youth Business Spain): Reempresa

Autoocupació, member of Youth Business Spain, are recognised for ‘Reempresa’ – a user-led business transfer marketplace established in Catalonia. The initiative reduces business closure and increases transfers to young people keen to become entrepreneurs. In turn, this leads to job retention, valuable cooperation and crucial support for young entrepreneurs starting out on their journey.

Most Valuable Failure: Development Solutions (Youth Business Mongolia): Remote mentoring

Failure doesn’t always have to mean the end of a journey as it is through failure that we generate the learning required to ensure future success. That’s exactly what happened when Development Solutions, YBI member in Mongolia, realised their remote mentoring programme was not succeeding. Several key outcomes led to the development of an initiative that is now better suited to the entrepreneurs, the mentors and the context.

Runners up:

Manq’a, Bolivia: A Deliciously Sustainable Menu

Qredits, Netherlands: EigenBaas Educational Program

Winners receiving their awards

“At a time when youth unemployment is increasing, young entrepreneurs like Buram are showing that with the right kind of support, it is possible for young people to take the initiative and not only create employment for themselves but for other people too.”

– Anita Tiessen, CEO of Youth Business International

Congratulations to all of the winners and the excellent finalists. We continue to be inspired by the YBI network on a daily basis and are looking forward to hearing what comes next for these entrepreneurs, mentors and key players in the field of youth entrepreneurship support.

The applications for the YBI 2019 Awards were judged by a carefully selected judging panel made up of entrepreneurs, mentors and YBI partners and supporters. For more information about GYES, visit the website and to see the live coverage of the Summit, follow our Twitter page.