2019 was an interesting year for us all, we lost some, we won some, we got sideswiped, we got re-educated, and we are more ready for 2020 than ever before. We turned 2 in 2019 and it feels like no better time to come of age than in 2020. We are like a toddler getting their footing and starting to run! Youth all across the world are stepping up and challenging the status quo, realizing the strength of their opinions and voices. Our League of Innovators youth entrepreneurs were right alongside those taking on the world by building their ideas and startups to soaring new heights this past year. From business rocketships to world-changing technologies to networks of the future to inspiring thousands of youth - they are all just at the tipping point of the impact they will create in our world. Through observation and deep engagement with this diverse and growing group of youth over the past couple of years, we saw the potential for a future that is bright, sustainable, and equitable for all, not just the few. But, that future requires the collaboration of many unlikely partners, and we are so fortunate to have an incredibly committed group of partners that believe, like us, that youth are the future. We asked ourselves some really big questions at the end of the year - How can we nurture our growing alumni network of 200+ young entrepreneurs BETTER? How can we engage and support all those entrepreneurs-to-be we have not met yet? 

Focusing on democratizing entrepreneurship - is going to be critical for us in 2020 in beyond - but how are we going to achieve this you may ask? We know so many young people do not have access to top-quality programming, education and support particularly if:

• They live outside of major Canadian city centres
• Do not go to certain post-secondary institutions
• Pursuing an entrepreneurial journey in an unusual industry

We are laser-focused on bringing our resources and programming into more digestible and accessible formats online and creating opportunities for connections of unlikely partners across regional and industry divides.  We believe we can reach, engage and connect with a broad range of youth all across Canada who are eager to learn, grow, and shape their future on their own terms. Look out for our launch of the Innovators Academy later this spring to accelerate access to in-depth resources on everything from how to start a business to dealing with burnout to using business for social good. 

Fundamental skills for success and sustainability - Here at LOI we are thinking about the skills we all need to succeed not just in entrepreneurship, but also in life. We are doing this by expanding our focus on themes we believe are essential: resilience, mental health, social purpose, personal development. We are bringing these themes to the forefront of all our programs and conversations. What is more important than starting a business or being successful is being healthy in mind, body, and spirit. We want to ensure that all the youth we work with have the tools to create that within their own lives. We have some big announcements coming up in 2020 including something about a Resilience Expert. 

Creating programs with no cliffs - It is crucial for us to stay true to our word about creating experiences for youth and youth entrepreneurs that support their needs where they are at. We have decided to build out our acceleration programs offering in 2020 to create opportunities for youth to work with us on the startups in two different new capacities. Building off the success of our Labs incubator program for early-stage startups we recognized the need for programming before and after the program itself. We asked ourselves, how can we create a space - outside of the classroom - where youth can explore their ideas and put them through the grinder? As a result, we are launching Foundations, an 8-week idea validation program to support all those young individuals dabbling with startup and change-making ideas but not really knowing how to realize them or even validate them. At the same time, we recognized the real need for a different kind of support for youth entrepreneurs who are scaling their startups (post-seed rounds and first millions) and dealing with an entirely new set of challenges and adventures, requiring a new set of tools to tackle what is ahead and as always a peer group rising together. We are excited to launch our Boost program for youth-led scale-ups this spring with a cohort of 10 leaders in the BC region! 

As we come of age as an organization we have a unique vantage point and position as part of so many young peoples’ journeys of coming of age themselves - stepping into their confidence, jumping into the unknown, and accomplishing impossible feats - building the future they desire. We are excited to continue building cutting edge programming at the intersection of entrepreneurship, skills for the future, and leadership to support all the youth that are in the network and all those that we have not met. If you are a young person building a startup or pondering a startup idea we want to meet you and if you are wanting to get engaged as a community member whether it be a partner, mentor, activator, speaker with us and all our entrepreneurs drop us an email in 2020!