Bridgewest bigs up tomorrow’s entrepreneurs by backing YES Alumni
Young Enterprise Trust (YES to its friends) turned 40 last year. That’s 40 years of giving high school students a taste for business, and a roll call of alumni that reads like a who’s who of New Zealand entrepreneurs.
Inspiring entrepreneurial minded young people
Where entrepreneurial ideas flourish, Bridgewest Ventures isn’t far away. So, it feels like a natural fit for us to back YES Alumni, a reinvigorated programme of events, networking opportunities, and volunteering for The Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) graduates. We caught up with YES Alumni Programme Manager and self-described Chief Cheerleader, Jessikah Cresswell to talk about what’s new.
Jess explains Young Enterprise runs financial literacy and entrepreneurship programmes for school students. They’re all about hands-on learning, providing experiences students don't get in the classroom, introducing a new generation to business in a real-world practical way.
Jess says, “Our goal is to create entrepreneurial minded young people. We believe an early introduction to key skills like collaboration and design thinking leads to success, whether you go on to start your own business or become a key player in an existing organisation.”
“It was a fantastic course to be a part of! It gave me a good insight into the business world and left me with some great entrepreneurial and leadership skills that I’m using in my company today.”
- Dr. Sean Feast, YES Alumni, and the founder and CEO of Precision Chroma Limited, a Bridgewest Ventures NZ portfolio company
A new era for YES Alumni
Every year around 5,000 students across New Zealand take part in the Young Enterprise Programme, creating a nationwide whānau of YES alumni. Jess says, “We’re blown away by what our alumni go on to achieve. They’ve started some incredible companies. Kiwibank, Girlboss, Eat my Lunch, Flamingo, Crimson Education and Sharesies were all founded by YES alums.”
“While it’s great to be able to share these success stories, we want to do more than simply bask in the glory of our graduates. We want to continue to add value to our students once they finish school and head into the real world. So, we asked ourselves, how we can keep our network of alumni connected and support them to stay engaged with the start-up community?”
“Last year we launched the YES Alumni Awards to celebrate the achievements of our alumni. Nine awards showcase the different pathways our alumni succeed in. We’re also running networking events around New Zealand, so alumni can collaborate with like minded people. And a huge number of alumni donate to us, both money, and their time and expertise as volunteers, mentors, and speakers at YES events.”
Bringing tomorrow’s entrepreneurs together with business
Jess is excited about the opportunities the revitalised alumni programme offers YES graduates and business supporters. “Because YES has been around for 40 years, we’re well positioned in the start-up ecosystem. So, we've a great network of people who love what YES do, fans who now want to give back and offer support through the alumni program. Examples of opportunities the programme creates includes sponsors hiring YES alumni, and alumni getting together and starting their own businesses; Crimson Education is one example of that.”
“The young people coming through YES now are our future movers and shakers. They’re coming out of our programmes with these great skills, starting up their own companies, and being industry disruptors. Businesses are really excited by these young people, and by supporting YES, they can get in front of our alumni, and start having conversations.”
The role of incubators in the start up ecosystem
Jess explains the valuable role incubators play in the start-up ecosystem. “YES supports students through their first experience of entrepreneurship. Our programmes are often the first time students realise they can turn their passion into a business. Trial and error is everything. Most entrepreneurs will fail many times before they hit a home run with a successful idea … So, if we provide a safe place to try and fail and learn, then alumni can go into an incubator with a robust idea, already equipped with some business knowledge, and get the wrap around support they need to build something real.”
“Fostering young entrepreneurs matters to New Zealand because it boosts prosperity for us all. We really want to ensure young people have clear pathways for success and can define success in whatever way they want. The pathway doesn't have to start a business, make lots of money. Young people are really interested in social enterprises, sustainability, and climate change. They’re interested in innovating in a way that solves problems for people.”
- Jessikah Cresswell, Marketing Advisor & Alumni Programme Manager, YES
“It's really inspiring to see how innovative, creative, and fearless young people can be in their thinking. We've had students march into huge corporates and get business leaders to mentor them or buy their product. They’ll persuade politicians to promote something for them. They can make anything happen. That confidence is really exciting and we want that boldness to continue as they get older, instead of allowing life to knock them around.”
YES Alumni Awards
Bridgewest Ventures is sponsoring the YES Alumni programme and the YES Alumni Awards.
“We’re always on the lookout for big ideas we can back that will have a positive environmental or economic impact on our world, but we need the next generation of leaders to help make things happen. This is why we’re excited about the potential of our partnership with YES and the opportunity to celebrate entrepreneurs”
- Kate de Ridder, Bridgewest Ventures Programme Manager
YES Partnership Advisor Louis Ivory explains, “The partnership between Young Enterprise and Bridgewest Ventures is important to us as it provides valuable insight for YES students and YES Alumni, who may have a business idea but are unsure how to take this to the next level.”
“Figuring out how to go from an idea to a commercially viable business can seem impossible, but Bridgewest Ventures NZ has the infrastructure in place to make that happen for them. And, if we’re doing our job here at YES well, we know there’ll be many more young and innovative entrepreneurs bringing their ideas to Bridgewest’s door down the line.”
Join us to celebrate the achievements of outstanding YES alumni on Thursday 14th July.
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