Wollongong’s Ken Kencevski recently represented Australia at the G20 YEA (Young Entrepreneur Alliance) Summit in Beijing, China.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Kencevski, of Devika, described it as an “awesome experience”.
He had been to China before, but not Beijing.
He said he found it exciting to be part of a conference full of young entrepreneurs from around the world.
The G20 YEA is a collective of organizations across the jurisdictions of the G20 that promote youth entrepreneurship as a driver of economic renewal, job creation, innovation and social change.
Mr Kencevski said alliance members represent more than 500,000 young entrepreneurs.
And each year the G20YEA brings together hundreds of the world’s top young entrepreneurs to share their ideas with the B20 and G20 leaders.
A G20YEA Communiqué is a call to action for G20 governments to focus on entrepreneurship innovation and education to address job creation and youth employment.
Mr Kencevski went to China interested in how the communiqué was going to prioritise education and social entrepreneurism.
He defines that as a business that is both ecological and profit sustainable.
There was discussion around many subjects.
They included education, access to funding, gender equality, social acceptance, government support and policy making, SMART entrepreneurism, machine learning, artificial intelligence, need for mentoring and digital skills in education sector.
The conference ended with 10 priority recommendations which were then signed and published by all of the G20 YEA presidents for the G20 Leaders to consider.
Education for children and entrepreneurs was the focus of two recommendations.
But Mr Kencevski was however disappointed that social entrepreneurism was not included in the 10.
“As disappointing as it may seem, I think what is more important is that as entrepreneurs or business leaders we lead by example on whatever topics are true to our heart and keep at them,” he said.
“Perseverance is key. We must lead by example not only for our teams, but for government leaders to buy-into how serious we are about the topic, and how we are moulding our businesses around the change we want to see in the world. That is why, I can comfortably say that Devika is dedicated to playing our part in changing the education sector; by delivering workshops with world leading content that is aimed at both facilitating and empowering Australia’s future. This is a passionate subject for me as I feel that we have no idea what industries will look like in 20 years. So I feel that we owe it to the next generation of children and entrepreneurs to equip them with both technical and strategic skills that are transferable to any industry. Therefore, the core and importance of the workshops being placed on nurturing problem solving, practical implementation, experimenting and collaborating.”
Similarly on the environment Mr Kencevski also views it as if we are borrowing it from future generations.
“It is up to us to drive ecologically sustainable businesses, that are able to generate profit and still place a positive part on the environment,” he said.
“So it is important for us to implement ecological sustainable practices wherever we can, and finding ways in which it can also improve a business’s profitability. We are doing this by moving paper-less, we have minimized our spend on printers, cartridges, paper and electricity when it comes to paper. We not only have implemented this for Devika, but we have implemented this for many of other businesses.”
Relate story:
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
