Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010 Designed to Create Life-Changing Experiences and Spur Firm Creation around the Globe

More than 100 Countries Join Worldwide Effort to Educate and Inspire Next Generation of Entrepreneurs, Nov. 15 - 21

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--In November, millions of people around the globe will participate in the world’s largest celebration of entrepreneurship. Thousands of events in more than 100 countries will celebrate innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010 (GEW), Nov. 15-21. Now in its third year, the event will bring together aspiring and inspiring entrepreneurs, helping them embrace originality, imagination and ingenuity through local, national and global activities.

“Through GEW’s growing global network, we are demonstrating how entrepreneurship can improve lives, build economies and expand human welfare.”

GEW has grown exponentially since its inaugural event in 2008; more than 10 million people in 102 countries will participate this year. In 2009, more than 7.5 million people took part in an estimated 32,000 events across 88 countries.

Co-founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the world’s largest foundation dedicated to entrepreneurship, and Enterprise UK, a business-led, government-backed campaign in the United Kingdom, GEW helps develop young people’s knowledge, skills and networks to inspire them to grow sustainable enterprises. The net outcome is a positive impact on participants’ lives, families and communities. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and others will participate in a host of activities that are virtual and face-to-face events, large-scale competitions and intimate networking gatherings.

“Global Entrepreneurship Week exemplifies the expression ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’—a global entrepreneurial movement is stronger than a sole regional or national effort,” said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation. “Through GEW’s growing global network, we are demonstrating how entrepreneurship can improve lives, build economies and expand human welfare.”

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010 Activities in the United States

Across all 50 states, universities, colleges and other entrepreneurship-focused organizations are engaging students and celebrating firm creation through a variety of GEW activities and events.

Among this year’s featured activities is Startup Open, a competition for new ventures with high-growth potential. Businesses that will be launched during GEW and register at www.startupopen.com (registration closes Oct. 31) have a chance to be selected as finalists and compete for a host of prizes. Of the registered participants, 50 will be chosen and recognized as “The GEW 50” – the 50 most promising startups. One of the “most promising” entrepreneurs will receive a free trip to Necker Island, a private property in the Virgin Islands owned by Sir Richard Branson, to network with experienced entrepreneurs courtesy Maverick Business Adventures.

Other GEW activities include:

1. Creativity World Forum: This annual conference on business creativity brings together entrepreneurs, knowledge workers and policymakers from around the globe to listen to inspiring speakers, exchange ideas and experiences and, of course, network.
2. Global Student Entrepreneurs Award: The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) is a catalyst that inspires students and young people to start and grow entrepreneurial ventures. A program of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), GSEA operates as an international series of competitions for student entrepreneurs who are attending a recognized high school, college or university, who own a for-profit business, are principally responsible for its operation, and have been generating revenue for a minimum of six consecutive months.
3. Movers and Changers: This is a nationwide business plan competition run by mtvU and NYSE Euronext to uncover creative capitalists who will launch a profitable and sustainable venture that also provides something positive for a community, the country or the world. These finalists will give their business pitches to the panel, with $25,000 in startup funds awarded to the top idea.
4. Who Owns the Icehouse?: A collaboration between Clifton Taulbert’s Building Community Institute, the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative and the Kauffman Foundation, this activity is a two-part project designed to inspire and engage America’s youth in the unlimited opportunities that an entrepreneurial mindset can provide. This program engages youth through a multimedia program, complete with literature and online resources. The book and the companion online course are scheduled to be released in select cities during Global Entrepreneurship Week. The project will become available nationwide in January 2011.

Global Entrepreneurship Week Supporters

Those supporting GEW include well-known entrepreneurs, industry luminaries and influential political figures like Barack Obama, president of the United States; Hillary Clinton, U.S. secretary of State; David Cameron, UK prime minister; Prince Charles, prince of Wales (UK); Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil; Anibal Cavaco Silva, president of Portugal; Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France; Yukio Hatoyama, prime minister of Japan; John Atta Mills, president of Ghana and Mohammed VI, king of Morocco.

Organizations supporting GEW on a global level include DECA, Endeavor, JA Worldwide, Youth Business International, Entrepreneurs’ Organization, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Center for International Private Enterprise, TechnoServe, Higher Colleges of Technology, UK Department for Business Innovation and Skills and MIT Enterprise Forum.

To view a complete list of participating countries and organizations, or to learn more about the Week, visit www.unleashingideas.org. Click here to view a video.

About Global Entrepreneurship Week

With the goal to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity, Global Entrepreneurship Week will encourage youth to think big and turn their ideas into reality. From November 15-21, 2010, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement to generate new ideas and seek better ways of doing things. Tens of thousands of activities are being planned in dozens of countries. Global Entrepreneurship Week is founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Make Your Mark campaign. For more information, visit www.unleashingideas.org, and follow @unleashingideas on Twitter.

Kauffman Foundation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. Through its research and other initiatives, the Kauffman Foundation aims to open young people's eyes to the possibility of entrepreneurship, promote entrepreneurship education, raise awareness of entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and find alternative pathways for the commercialization of new knowledge and technologies. In addition, the Foundation focuses on initiatives in the Kansas City region to advance students’ math and science skills, and improve the educational achievement of urban students, including the Ewing Marion Kauffman School, a college preparatory charter school for middle and high school students set to open in 2011. Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo. and has approximately $2 billion in assets. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org, and follow the Foundation on Twitter at @kauffmanfdn and Facebook.