Round Table: Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship (YIE) Arab World Social Innovation ForumMay 15, 2010

Overview:

The challenges facing Arab youth are widely known, and have become a permanent fixture in Arab development and policy debates. Similarly, substantial research is mounting from institutions throughout the world, advocating for the moral, social, political and economic imperative of integrating young people in Arab society. Within these efforts, a number of initiatives are citing entrepreneurship as a means of achieving youth inclusion. After all, with the need for private sector development and job creation at an all-time high, young people could play a pivotal role in spurring business growth. In short, youth are at an ideal age to awaken their entrepreneurial energies, making the excitement building around youth entrepreneurship both timely and promising.However, now that we have assembled this knowledge and energy from the grassroots, private and public levels, we must take a moment to pause and reflect on the core issues and questions at work. Before we move ahead and seek a widespread impact from youth entrepreneurship projects and policies, we need to assess the fundamental parameters and goals that drive our work. While many individuals are avid supporters of youth entrepreneurship, there is no universally accepted definition for it, which affects the type of policy changes and impact that institutions and individuals seek. Specifically, by which definition of entrepreneurship are we guiding our efforts? How do our varying definitions limit our capacity to deliver impact? Additionally, we lack a consensus on the long-term goals of youth entrepreneurship initiatives – do we seek to change policies or the environment? With the need to create jobs and more diversified economies growing, can we afford to wait for the advocacy, debate, and implementation of policies? Further, how much priority do we give to encouraging not simply entrepreneurship, but innovation and risk? Should policy makers place a premium on innovation, as opposed to favoring solely private sector development, as it holds greater potential for impact? Lastly, how will we judge short, medium, and long-term impact – is the goal solely job creation or is it the formation of new markets?We all recognize the huge opportunity Arab youth present, but without coming to consensus on these questions we risk not realizing the complete potential within this demographic. Whether our ultimate goal is policy reform, a complete change in people’s attitudes towards youth entrepreneurship, an upswing in high impact youth-driven organizations, we must begin to agree on the terms and approach we will employ.During this roundtable, Ashoka Arab World will present its position on these questions. By uniting stakeholders from the social, private, and academic sector from both the Arab region and international sphere, we hope to solicit responses to these questions and opinions, and begin to determine a more focused approach for youth entrepreneurship.

Questions:

I. What is our precise definition of youth entrepreneurship? a. Who is an entrepreneur – a traditional business developer or someone who takes risks, creates new markets, etc.? b. How do our varying definitions of entrepreneurship hinder our approach and impact? c. How can we begin to agree on a universal interpretation of this concept? d. Are there any models/organizations that currently define an innovative and impactful approach to youth entrepreneurship?

II. What are our long-term goals of youth entrepreneurship initiatives? a. Do we seek to change policies or the public environment b. If both, which should we approach first? c. Why should we prioritize changing public opinions and the environment before attempting policy reform?

III. Further, how much priority do we give to encouraging innovation and risk amongst Arab youth? a. Will it be sufficient to just help young people gain access to capital to start their own businesses? b. Can increased support for innovation and risk bring more comprehensive and quicker change?

IV. How can we judge impact for youth entrepreneurship programs?

a. What are short, medium and long-term objectives for youth entrepreneurship? b. What would a successful, impactful youth entrepreneurship model look like? c. Is the goal solely job creation or is it the formation of new markets? d. Are there any current metrics that provide a framework for monitoring and evaluation?

Agenda:

10:00 – 10:10 – Presentation by Ashoka Arab World on Youth Entrepreneurship

10:10 – 10:20 – Introduction by Moderator: Moderator will state the content, rationale, and expectations for the round table.

10:20 – 10:30 – Participant Introductions: Participants will discuss expertise and motivations for joining panel.

10:30 – 11:30 – Facilitated discussion on pre-prepared questions and topics.

11:30 – 12:00 – Conclusions: Participants will formulate a presentation for closing plenary, discuss ideas for future collaborations, finalize concrete ideas on a youth entrepreneurship collaborative framework for publishing, and call for pledges.