YBI Awards Winners 2019: One year on

In the run up to our virtual awards ceremonies at next week’s Global Entrepreneurship Festival 2020, we’re taking a look back at last year’s YBI Awards winners.

YBI’s committed members, dedicated volunteer mentors and determined young entrepreneurs are the heart and soul of our network – they are the reason we do what we do. To honour their outstanding achievements, every year we hold our YBI Awards in three categories: Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Mentor Recognition, and Member Innovation.

Join us online on 3rd-5th November for the YBI Awards 2020!

Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2019: Buram Munkshuren, Mongolia

Buram Munkshuren won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 Award with her sewing business, which empowers herder-women in rural Mongolia.

Like many women in her community, Buram wanted to support her family financially but had no employment opportunities. She decided to take matters into her own hands and started her business with support from our local member Youth Business Mongolia. As the demand for Buram’s products grew, she started hiring other women, enabling them to financially contribute to their household and join a social security insurance scheme.

Since winning the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award , Buram’s business has been thriving. Even when COVID-19 reached Mongolia and many businesses struggled to survive, Buram continued to receive orders for her products, which allowed her to continue to pay her employees. Keen to support her community through this difficult time, she even started producing face masks and distributing them to vulnerable people in her village, free of charge.

Since winning the award, Buram has become a role model for young entrepreneurs in her region. She says:

“The past year has been very inspiring and unforgettable for me. After winning the award, I attended local TV interviews and events to inspire and motivate other young entrepreneurs in rural areas of Mongolia. I would have never imagined that my small rural business could turn into this great project.”

Mentor Recognition Award Winner 2019: Marcele Silva, Brazil

Seven years ago, Marcele started a hostel business, which became her main source of income when she lost her consultant job. The support she received from mentors through our Brazilian member Aliança Empreendedora was vital for making her business a success. Since then, Marcele has made it her mission to share her knowledge with other young entrepreneurs by becoming a volunteer-mentor with Aliança Empreendedora herself.

Marcele believes that young entrepreneurs benefit greatly from hearing the experiences of others who have gone through similar challenges. At the same time, Marcele stresses that she is also learning a lot from her mentees and developing her empathy, collaboration and listening skills. In short, mentoring creates a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Marcele’s top tip for a successful mentoring relationship? To build it on mutual trust.

Member Innovation Award Winner 2019: Reempresa, Autoocupacio, Spain

Autoocupació , member of Youth Business Spain , won our Member Innovation Award 2019 for ‘ Reempresa ’ – a business transfer marketplace to reduce new businesses’ mortality in Catalonia by encouraging potential entrepreneurs to buy an existing business.

The initiative reduces business closure and increases transfers to young people keen to become entrepreneurs. This saves jobs and businesses while encouraging entrepreneurship for those who might not feel capable of starting a business from scratch. Reempresa also provides free capacity development services.

At the time of winning the award, Reempresa had helped facilitate over, 2,000 successful business transfers, saving over 6,000 existing jobs. Three years after selling, over 87,000 businesses were still running.Inspired to find out about this year’s winners? Join us online on 3rd-5th November for the YBI Awards 2020!