By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

For one week, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents are coming together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity.

From November 16-22, 2009, Global Entrepreneurship Week will connect young people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and many others will participate in a range of activities, from online to face-to-face, and from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings.

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008 was a great success and a brilliant example of what can be achieved by bringing together different ideas and cultures around the theme of enterprise. In 2009, the goal is to unleash young people’s ideas around the issues that matter most to society, from poverty reduction through to climate change, and to foster a global culture which recognizes entrepreneurs as drivers of economic and social prosperity.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton videotaped a public statement of support for the Kauffman Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, praising its efforts to create new opportunities and businesses; encourage youth to pursue fresh ideas; and improve the global economy. This year, Global Entrepreneurship Week will be celebrated by more than three million people and 8,800 organizations (1000+ in the U.S.) in 85 countries.

Global Entrepreneurship Week is the vision of the Kauffman Foundation, the world’s leading foundation for entrepreneurship and Make Your Mark the UK’s campaign to give young people the confidence, skills and ambition to make their ideas happen.

The campaign is backed by an unprecedented coalition of businesses, charities, education bodies and government - it’s unique in being young-people focused, business-led and government-backed. It is funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and was founded by the four main UK business organizations - the British Chambers of Commerce, CBI, Federation of Small Businesses and Institute of Directors. Make Your Mark leads a campaign coalition of 25 national organizations from education, the voluntary sector, business and government.

Post from: GreatStartups.com

By: Co-Editor, Bobby B:

We do not usually discuss the arts on this blog but here is an announcement that came across my desk that I feel is of great interest to the entrepreneurial community.

On October 13, 2009, 50 Eggs Productions, an independent film company, today a announced major partnership with AMC Entertainment Inc. (AMC), which will exclusively release the production company’s newest film TEN9EIGHT: Shoot for the Moon during Global Entrepreneurship Week. The film is expected to draw national and international attention to and its message about the life-changing power of teaching entrepreneurship to kids from the inner city. TEN9EIGHT, whose title refers to the fact that every nine seconds a kid drops out of a U.S. high school, is especially timely given the an economic recession and a dropout crisis, in which ways must be found to engage youth.

The film, which is produced and directed by award winning filmmaker, Mary Mazzio, chronicles the inspirational stories of several teens from low-income communities – many of whom are on the bubble: on the verge of dropping out, joining a gang, or worse.
These students enroll in a course at school - an innovative program that teaches these students how to become entrepreneurs. They learn how to read a balance sheet and how to start a business. 24,000 of these students, from Harlem to Compton (and all points in between) then enter a nationwide business plan competition run by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE).

This project has enjoyed an unprecedented level of support for an independent documentary film; AMC Entertainment Inc. will exclusively release the film on November 13 at 15 theatres in eight markets (New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Washington, DC and Kansas City). AMC will also offer a free screening on November 12 in each market for teachers and their students.

The partnership with AMC came about because AMC features a program dedicated to specialty films called AMC SELECT. The AMC SELECT program is available in about 80 theatres and guarantees one specialty film in the designated theatres 365 days a year.

Screenings of the film will also be a centerpiece of Global Entrepreneurship Week (November 16-22). The Week is an international celebration involving thousands of organizations around the globe that will hold events to inspire, connect, mentor and engage young people and encourages them to pursue entrepreneurial ideas and opportunities.

In its press release, 50 Eggs points to the case of Rodney Walker, a finalist in the competition and the narrator of the film. He was put into the foster care system at the age of five – along with his 10 brothers and sisters – and ended up essentially homeless on the streets of Chicago. Rather than joining his brothers in gangs or jail, Rodney was able to forge a better future for himself by learning how to start his own business. Today, he is on the Dean’s List at Morehouse College.

As Mary Mazzio, writer and director of TEN9EIGHT states, “if this movie inspires a single kid to stay in school, then we have all won.”

Post from: GreatStartups.com