The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), a global peer-to-peer network of 13,000+ entrepreneurs in 58+ countries, hosted the first-ever International Entrepreneurial Summit at the United Nations from June 25-26, 2019.
Ryan Villanueva and Kevin Felix Chan, the co-founders of Best Delegate and the MUN Institute, attended the Summit. Ryan is the President of EO Boston and Kevin is the Accelerator Chair of EO Los Angeles.
During the two-day event, Ryan and Kevin participated in discussions with 180+ other entrepreneurs on how to make an impact on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on:
- SDG 4 – Quality Education
- SDG 5 – Gender Equality
- SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation
- SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
The Summit featured speakers from the Mission of the Philippines to the UN, the UN Office of Partnerships, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the International Trade Centre, and others. Montessori Model UN also spoke at the Summit about their Youth Impact Forum, featuring students sharing their experiences learning about the SDGs through Model UN and then creating projects to make an impact.
According to Ryan, “The purpose of the summit was to educate and engage entrepreneurs to make an impact on the SDGs. Our objective was to produce a set of 12+ commitments in an Outcomes Declaration that EO Members could sign on to and implement through their businesses and EO Chapters.”
Kevin was particularly inspired by the event. “It was thrilling to see that the United Nations recognized that entrepreneurs are the ones who are in the front lines of taking action and can make a real impact on sustainable development through their businesses and in their community. Two ideas really excited me about changing the way entrepreneurs think and act on sustainable development.”
“For SDG 4 on Quality Education, we realized we could empower the next generation of entrepreneurs to solve the greatest problems in sustainable development and have their businesses to be run sustainably from day one by educating the children of today’s entrepreneurs on Model United Nations and the SDGs.”
“For SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, we realized we already have two programs in place — EO Accelerator and GSEA — that we could use to 10x the number of jobs we can create through EO. These programs empower more under-35 and women entrepreneurs, especially those in developing countries, to scale their growth-stage businesses up to $1M in revenue each.”
Ryan designed the breakout sessions during the Summit: “I was asked to work with a team of facilitators to help design the ‘Think Tank’ process that would lead 180+ entrepreneurs to create these commitments. I modeled the process after the stages of Model UN that we use with students and teachers. EO Members needed to research the SDGs in order to prepare for the summit. They were asked to make speeches, sharing their experiences with social impact and their ideas for to impact the SDGs. And they had to write resolutions on the different potential commitments that EO could make to the SDGs.”
“It was really interesting to see adults go through similar emotions that students experience in Model UN — the thrill of sharing and pushing for your ideas — the passion of debating recommendations, of asking for specifics, of wondering whether this is good enough — and the sense of joy and gratitude of getting on the same page by the end of the summit, of realizing how remarkable it is to get this many entrepreneurs in the same room to talk about something that truly matters, and feeling like we can make a difference in the world.”
At the end of the Summit, all members and companies in attendance voted and agreed upon the following solutions to support the SDGs throughout the Entrepreneurs’ Organization.
Following the Summit, Ryan and Kevin have been speaking with the leaders of various EO Chapters to discuss how to implement EO’s commitments, especially how to create an EO Children Education program featuring partnerships with Model UN organizations, including the Model United Nations Institute.
“Teaching entrepreneurs and their children about the SDGs and how to impact them is perfectly aligned with our mission at Best Delegate and the MUN Institute,” says Ryan. “Kevin and I are excited to work with EO chapters to create this Children Education program and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs to build companies that solve global problems.”
Want to learn more about EO’s International Entrepreneurial Summit? Check out this blog post over at the EO website!
