Young Enterprise is a national charity that has helped over four million young people with enterprise skills- we caught up with CEO, Sharon Davies to ask her what key things we all should know about YE.
Sharon Davies, Young Enterprise
Young Enterprise is nearly 60 years old
In 1963, a year after we were first established, we started off with 113 teenagers signed up to the Company Programme. We have now grown exponentially, and in 2020 alone we helped over 195,000 young people develop the critical skills and mindset to help navigate the current and future environment.
We’re turning the tide on the Covid-induced ‘lost generation’ rhetoric with our campaign Enterprising Mindsets
We know that young people have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19. At YE we are making a conscious effort not to fuel negative language. We will be proactive in absolutely tackling the growing barriers to social mobility, but we also feel that some of the current narrative is in itself limiting and disempowering to young people. We believe that young people are more resourceful than we give them credit for and we will focus much more on creating opportunities to engage, energise and inspire them to do more.
We’ve gone digital with the Young Enterprise Trading Station
In the face of the pandemic, the traditional methods our young entrepreneurs used to sell their products (stalls at fairs for example) had to be brought to an abrupt end. We set up the Young Enterprise Trading Station, an online trading platform. Understanding and engaging with e-commerce is becoming invaluable for young entrepreneurs. It enables them to sell their products and services to the public. Embracing the e-commerce revolution has been key to developing their understanding of key issues such as regulations, intellectual property, marketing and GDPR.
We have partnered with the likes of Dragon Den’s Theo Paphitis and former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown
Leading business figureheads are involved in supporting the work we do. In a recent webinar centred around Enterprising Mindsets, Gordon Brown joined us for a fireside chat discussing how joining the dots between business and young people will be key to generating employment opportunities. We firmly believe in getting business involved in young people’s education to show them what they can achieve - so does Theo Paphitis who spoke to us on our podcast recently about his own experience as an entrepreneur.
Over 4.5 million students have participated in Young Enterprise programmes since we were founded
We have helped an astronomical number of young people over the years to discover their potential and develop the critical skills in which to harness opportunity. We’re fostering enterprising mindsets in schools so that young people are prepared to adapt to a rapidly changing employment environment.
We provide financial education too
Young Money is the financial education arm of our mission. Young Money supports educators to provide financial education to young people to help them manage their own money, but also avoid things like online fraud which has become especially crucial with the increase of online shopping during lockdown. Personal finance is often an overlooked element of education, and we are passionate about changing this.
An Enterprising Mindset will be an essential part of the economic recovery
Instead of writing off a generation, we have a collective responsibility to help young people look out for and seize opportunity. The tumult of this past year has not put an end to the entrepreneurial spirit, and we want to inspire young people to grasp that opportunity in the face of adversity. Business ideas are often born out of recession or crisis. We strongly believe that despite all the challenges, the current environment is also providing opportunities for young people to apply those qualities of resourcefulness and curiosity, which could lead to some wonderful careers in new and strengthening sectors evolving.
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