The Peruvian think tank Instituto Invertir launched LíderAcción, a leadership and entrepreneurship program for university students from rural Peru. This program, now in its second year, has had a tremendous impact on improving the youth’s perceptions of a market economy and democracy. The program also helped students to achieve their dream of starting their own businesses. Working in groups, students developed 47 business plans for community development projects. Of these plans, a total of 12 businesses are currently in operation, and 5 more are in the start-up process. After completing the program, students have been encouraged to stay active by taking their knowledge and experience back to their home communities.

See the video on CIPE Development Blog.

See the winning 2008 business plan (in Spanish).

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Interestingly, the most recent projects in the area of youth entrepreneurship have been initiated at an academic level. One of these initiatives is the “Entrepreneur Factory”, a program that has been developed by the Career Center, a Romanian organization aiming to help students and recent graduates to start a career.

The rationale behind this program is that well trained entrepreneurs will be client-oriented and will aim to achieve excellence in their fields. Subsequently, they will expect their employees and coworkers to exhibit the same type of attitude, thereby contributing to the dissemination of best practices on a larger scale, as well as the promotion of professionalism. At the same time, they will contribute to the development of a sustainable and creative business environment that can only benefit the entire Romanian society. Continue reading ‘The Entrepreneur Factory’ »