The present document contains the guidelines for the July 10^th and 12^th Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) and World Bank’s Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) Videoconference.

Activities for the Distant Learning Centers (DLCs):

• Prepare and send in advance a list of the participants for the videoconference before July 3^rd to the YABT in order to distribute it to other sites.

• Organize the National Presentations in their respective centers.

• Distribute the present document, which contains the guidelines for the presentation, to the participants with the anticipation required for them to develop the National Presentations.

Activities for the Participants:

• Prepare for the National Presentations.

• Send a brief about the programs that are being implemented in their home country to train and develop young entrepreneurs including: (i) a summary of the young entrepreneur training/development programs available in their respective countries, (ii) best practices for training entrepreneurs, and (iii) challenges faced by the programs. (Please see Part B. National Presentations).

2. VIDEOCONFERENCE STRUCTURE

The videoconference consists in two sepparate day sessions. Each session includes 4 main parts.

July 10^th Session

Part A. Welcome introductions and opening statements by the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) and the First Lady of Ecuador.

Part B.. National Presentations by Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, Israel, and Washington DC.

Part C. Open Discussion.

Part D. Future Programs Planning.

July 12^th Session

Part A. Review the main points and conclusions from the July 10^th Session.

Part B.. National Presentations by Colombia, Nicaragua, Spain, Mexico (Guadalajara), Miami and Washington DC.

Part C. Open Discussion.

Part D. Future Programs Planning.

 

3. PART B. NATIONAL PRESENTATIONS

The main goal of the National Presentations is to encourage the sharing of valuable information on strategies for successful programs for young entrepreneurs that have been implemented in developing countries based on previous lessons and experiences.

It is our belief that great benefits can be achieved for young entrepreneurs if local governments, NGOs, business communities, entrepreneurs and community groups would increase dialogue among each other. This will develop a further understanding of the advantages, disadvantages and challenges they have experienced in the implementation of training programs for their young entrepreneurs. By doing so, each country can learn the best practices to train young people who face the multiple challenges in entering the labor market.

III.2. Plan of Action

In order to attain the mentioned goal, each of the participant countries will make a ten minutes presentation, in which they will develop the subjects mentioned below.

For each of the subjects we have suggested questions to be answered and a certain time of exposure. The questions have been designed to act as guidelines to determine the content of the presentations, nevertheless, since the time of exposure is limited, countries are not expected to answer all of them. On the other hand, the suggested time of exposure is intended to clarify the expositors how to distribute their time among the different topics according to their importance.

• Summary of the young entrepreneur training/development programs available in their respective countries

1. Which programs are being implemented in your country to train and develop young entrepreneurs?

2. Which are their objectives?

• Best practices for training entrepreneurs

1. Mention three or four of the best practices used in training entrepreneurs that were implemented in your country. That is, outline which programs have been most successful in recent times.

2. Explain, what were the achievements of the programs. Why are they considered to be successful?

3. Explain what made the programs successful. Which were the key characteristics of the programs that produced the outstanding results?

4. Describe the activities that the programs included and their source of financing.

5. Evaluate if the program would be appropriate for other developing countries.

• Challenges faced by the programs

1. Mention three or four of the major difficulties the programs faced.

2. Explain how the challenges were overcome.

3. Evaluate if similar solutions could be implemented in other developing countries.

2. PART C. OPEN DISCUSSION

The purpose of the Open Discussion is to develop a debate among the conference participants where they can further discuss the information they have learned in the National Presentations. By doing so, they will be able to achieve a deeper understanding of the models applied in different counties and, ultimately, to deduce what programs or strategies could be emulated on the development of their young entrepreneurs.

IV.2. Plan of Action

During the open discussion participants are expected to ask questions to the national expositors and to share conclusions about what they have heard and interpreted during the National Presentations.

The questions can have diverse objectives, such as:

• Clarify questions about the best practices that have previously been explained in the presentations.

• Obtain advice or different views from other participants about how to plan or implement entrepreneurs development programs.

• Obtain guidance from other participants on how to overcome program difficulties.

• Acquire additional information about successful and problem solving practices.

Conclusions can consist on thoughts about the national programs and their advantages, disadvantages, similarities and differences, or, a collection of the information they have heard and believed to be valuable.

2. PART D. FUTURE PROGRAMS PLANNING

This section of the conference is aimed to generate an exchange of ideas about future videoconferences and priorities for the "Business Labs" development.

Business Labs is one of the main projects of YABT and a part Plan of Action of the Conference of First Ladies. Its main purpose is to introduce and upgrade entrepreneurs’ education and formal skills training programs, enabling young people to create employment and overcome poverty.

V.2. Plan of Action

During 30 minutes participants will share their thoughts about what should be the topics for future videoconferences and what concepts and abilities they believe should be taught in the "Business Labs."