Last conference of the Young Entrepreneurs Succeed project in Athens

Athens, January 29, 2023. On January 18 and 19, the last conference of the Young Entrepreneurs Succeed (YES!) program was held in Athens. Since the beginning of this project, five years ago, different workshops have been held throughout the participating countries to evaluate the work done.

On January 18, the closing public event of the program was held, which was called “It’s all about NEETs!”. The welcome was given by Spyridon Kintzios, the rector of the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) and Evangelos Papoulias, director of the Athens University History Museum. Afterwards, Evangelos Sakellariou, the CEO of one of the project partners, ANKA and Francesca Bombarda, Fund Operator Communication Expert of EEA & Norway Grants, a fund that promotes youth employment, intervened.

The event continued with a review of the history of the Young Entrepreneurs Succeed project, from its beginnings to the impact it has had on several European countries during the time it has been active. Among the most important results of YES!, Yiorgos Alexopoulos (AUA) highlighted a very important fact : more than 3,500 beneficiaries have been able to improve their lives due to this program. 

Later, a round table was held, where all the project partners were able to share the experiences learned during it. Eleni Bletsa (ANKA), Guillem Arís (Autoocupació), Matteo Solivo (Microfinance) and Olga Mucha (Youth Business Poland) shared their visions.

Afterwards, several inspiring stories were reviewed within the framework of the program, such as success stories of young people who have been employed with thanks to the program, experiences between mentors and mentees in Greece and the screening of the film “Lion Dreams”, which deals with entrepreneurship and personal improvement. In addition, real experiences of people who are dedicated to the field of employability of young people in Greece were also presented.

At the end of the day, an interesting and inspiring panel discussion focused on how to face the future of work with young unemployed people, how we can influence it as organizations and what the role of public policies should be in the coming years.

Participating in this project has been a very rewarding experience for all partners, and we are proud to have been able to improve the quality of life of young people in countries where the project has had an impact, such as Italy, Poland, Greece, or Spain.