Leading Canadian Entrepreneurship Organization Brings Home Global Award

Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) wins "Country of the Year" Award for Canada

March 10, 2010 – Dubai, United Arab Emirates - The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF), Canada’s leading youth entrepreneurship organization, has been awarded the top honour for its impact during Global Entrepreneurship Week Canada in November, 2009.

This prestigious award was given by the world renowned Kauffman Foundation and Enterprise UK, founders of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). GEW is an international movement designed to inspire millions of young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity in entrepreneurship. During GEW Canada 2009, CYBF engaged hundreds of organizations to champion and celebrate youth entrepreneurship that reached millions of Canadians through grass roots and national GEW initiatives.

"The Kauffman Foundation was delighted to acknowledge the significant contribution CYBF made as a first time host for Global Entrepreneurship Week Canada 2009," said Carl Schramm, president and chief executive officer of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. "CYBF's ability to reach and quickly mobilize a large percentage of the Canadians to champion and drive youth entrepreneurship sets a new global benchmark that I am sure will inspire other nations to follow.”

The announcement was made at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where CYBF represented Canada. CYBF competed against more than 100 countries, including the United Kingdom, Russia and the United States of America for the “Country of the Year” award.

The Congress is an international gathering of leaders building an unprecedented movement of future entrepreneurs. This high impact international event, hosted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the UAE Higher Colleges of Technology, brings together hundreds of VIP delegates representing more than 100 nations to discuss the critical advancement of entrepreneurship.

“It is an honour to represent Canada at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Dubai,” said Vivian Prokop, chief executive officer of CYBF. “To have received this huge distinction proves the impact of CYBF in the global arena. We were deeply honoured to partner with outstanding like-minded Canadian organizations to advance a strong culture of entrepreneurship during GEW 2009, and are proud to be the official host of GEW Canada for the next three years (2010-2012).”

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About The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF)
Canada’s Entrepreneur Gateway
The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) is the ‘go to’ place for youth entrepreneurship. As a national charity, we are dedicated to growing our nation’s economy one young entrepreneur at a time. We look at character not collateral, when providing youth, age 18-34, with pre-launch coaching, business resources, start-up financing and mentoring, to help them launch and sustain a successful entrepreneurial business.

Founded in 1996, CYBF has invested to date in more than 3,500 young entrepreneurs, whose businesses have created more than 16,900 new jobs, $96 million in tax revenue and hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and export revenue. CYBF delivers its program coast to coast through a national network of more than 150 community partners and 3,000 volunteers including business mentors.

For more information on CYBF, please visit www.cybf.ca.

About GEW Canada
From November 15th to the 21st, 2010, more than 100 countries will come together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), a movement to inspire millions of people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity. GEW Canada will connect hundreds of organizations to champion a culture of entrepreneurship and mentoring, through local, national and global initiatives. Students, educators, young adults, entrepreneurs, business leaders, mentors, employees, non-profit leaders, corporations, governments, and many others will participate in a wide range of programs. The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) is the Official Host for GEW Canada.

For more information, visit www.gewcanada.com.

Media Contact:
Lori Paris, Senior Manager, Media Relations and Communications,
Canadian Youth Business Foundation
416 408-2923 ext 2120 / lparis@cybf.ca

The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) is the ‘go to’ place for youth entrepreneurship. As a national charity, we are dedicated to growing our nation’s economy one young entrepreneur at a time. We look at character not collateral, when providing youth, age 18-34, with pre-launch coaching, business resources, start-up financing and mentoring, to help them launch and sustain a successful entrepreneurial business.