About the Week
Background
“Entrepreneurs are not born, they are made. Entrepreneurship is a skill that can be taught just like any other. That’s why Global Entrepreneurship Week is so vital right now. To inspire thousands of people to pursue their ideas, to create jobs and to build global ambition among young people and business owners alike.” Peter Jones, entrepreneur and Enterprise UK Chair
Global Entrepreneurship Week began life as Enterprise Week in the UK back in 2004. When news of the phenomenal success of Enterprise Week in the UK spread the globe, lots of other countries got excited at the potential of running similar initiatives in their own countries. So in 2008, Enterprise UK and the Kauffman Foundation (the world’s largest entrepreneurship foundation based in the US) founded the very first Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Last year, there were over 32,000 events run in 88 countries, attended by more than 7.5 million people. In the UK, over 529,000 people attended 4,812 events.
Global Entrepreneurship Week is a worldwide movement of entrepreneurial people, with millions unleashing their enterprising talents and turning their ideas into reality. Find out what happened in previous years of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
It’s more than just a week
Global Entrepreneurship Week is an opportunity to showcase and celebrate all the amazing work that goes on year-round.
Our partners (the wonderful organisations that run activities during the Week) use Global Entrepreneurship Week to launch something new, showcase their projects, or just generally raise the profile of entrepreneurship in their locality. They do this because we all recognise that entrepreneurship is a force for good. It can lift people out of poverty, enable people to take control of their own lives, or simply turn their passions into profit.
Activities range from enterprise competitions to talks from local role models to large scale conferences. Read stories of events that took place last year in our Inspiring Stories section.
Do you want to organise an event during Global Entrepreneurship Week? Find all the information you need in the Run an activity section.
