YBI launches global Community of Practice to support ‘high flying’ young entrepreneurs to grow their business

YBI is delighted to launch a new Community of Practice (CoP) and High Flyers programme, funded by Argidius Foundation, to support underserved ‘high flying’ young entrepreneurs in 8 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and South America to grow and scale their businesses. YBI defines High Flyers as young entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35 who have been running a business for approximately two years and are looking to grow.

High Flyers have enormous potential to become engines of job creation and transform their local communities. But many face barriers that prevent them from growing and scaling their business. YBI’s new global Community of Practice will leverage the expertise and experience of 10 YBI members and delivery partners from 8 countries around the world to design and deliver effective support programmes that empower High Flyers to grow and scale their businesses, increase their revenue, and create new jobs. The programme will have a particular focus on supporting underserved High Flyers, including women, migrant and rural entrepreneurs.

YBI’s Community of Practice will bring together YBI member organisations in Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Turkey, and Uganda and delivery partners in Greece and Myanmar to share and codify best practices in supporting High Flyers, and create a guide for all YBI members supporting young entrepreneurs to grow and scale their businesses. Based on the insights and recommendations from the Community of Practice, our implementing members CAP YEI in Kenya, Cordaid Uganda and Enterprise Uganda, and Corporación Minuto de Dios (CMD) in Colombia will design and deliver dedicated High Flyers programmes in their countries to support 120 – 200 High Flyers between February and November 2023. The remaining Community of Practice members and delivery partners will use the guide to adapt and improve their current or future programmes supporting High Flyers in their countries.

Support offered as part of the High Flyers programmes will include training on business development, specialised skills support, mentoring, and support with gaining access to finance.

Following the first cohort of High Flyers programmes, YBI will track the progress of participating High Flyers over two years to evaluate the impact of the support and identify additional barriers and support needs. Based on these insights, the Community of Practice will revise its best practices and recommendations and YBI will roll these out to the wider YBI network with the aim to support over 18,000 High Flyers and create over 900 new jobs around the world.

Anita Tiessen, CEO of Youth Business International (YBI), said:

“We believe in the potential of high-flying young entrepreneurs to create jobs and transform their communities. Our new global Community of Practice allows its members to draw on the rich experience and expertise of the global YBI network of entrepreneurship support organisations, and will enable them to design and deliver more effective support programmes for High Flyers in their countries.”