Breaking Barriers – An Initiative from Ye!

Breaking Barriers is a new virtual event by Ye! aiming to connect community members and share their stories with a global network of their peers. This event aims to inspire other youth, entrepreneurs or otherwise, by connecting them to youth who are making an impact in business, breaking down barriers and thwarting stereotypes of youth in business.

It is a commonly held notion in the investment and banking sector that youth are risky investments. We want to shout from the hilltops that this is FALSE!

Youth are the engines of economic change. We are not the generation of the future, but with the right support, we are the changemakers of today.

Breaking Barriers aims to provide a space for young entrepreneurs from around the globe to share their stories, acknowledge the barriers they have overcome to get to where they are today, shed light on their vision and desire to positively impact the societies in which they live, and finally how they broke down barriers along the way.

Ye! believes that to truly take on the global problem of youth unemployment (64 million youth are currently unemployed - a problem which accordingly to the ILO is only getting worse), we must empower youth to startup their own enterprises. On average, a young entrepreneur employs 11 other youth. Imagine the impact of investing in 50 million youth-led ventures! Breaking Barriers aims to provide a platform for sharing impactful and positive stories of youth entrepreneurs in order to work meaningfully towards reducing the barriers to youth engaging in entrepreneurship.

Let’s contribute to the dialogue and show the world that youth can create stable, viable enterprises, given the right support, and that we are anything but risky.

Ye! wants to showcase your story!

The virtual Breaking Barriers initiative is a live discussion on social media for 30-45 minutes. Entrepreneurs who are selected will work with the Ye! organizers to prepare a script with various talking points to cover based on the story or the topic that the entrepreneur wishes to discuss. Sessions will be available for re-sharing and will be posted on the Ye! Community website and shared via the Ye! Community newsletter.

Interested entrepreneurs can send an email to ye@yecommunity.com subject line: Breaking Barriers showcase.

In the email please provide a brief overview of your enterprise, your background in business, and one key challenge you faced and how you overcame it. Entrepreneurs who are eligible must have a complete Ye! member profile which is published on the website, be 30 years old or younger, and must have been running their enterprise for 2+ years.

Watch the pilot edition with Kathy Ku here!

Let’s break down barriers and show the world that it’s time to invest in youth.