The Best Young Entrepreneurs Award of Ampara District - 2014

Youth Business Sri Lanka (YBSL) recently recognised the efforts of the Ampara district’s micro scale entrepreneurs, by awarding them with the best young entrepreneur of the district award.

Accordingly, H.A. Deepal  Priyadharshana,  a young micro scale entrepreneur, who operates a three wheeler repair and a service center was chosen as, ‘The Best young entrepreneur’ of the Ampara district, while  M. Hansul Fareed, who runs a fruit juice bottling and a Milk processing business, was chosen as the Runner up of the competition.

H.A. Deepal  Priyadharshana, ‘The Best young entrepreneur - runner ’ of the Ampara district

 M. Hansul Fareed, ‘The Best young entrepreneur - Runner up’ of the Ampara district

The Best young female entrepreneur award of the Ampara district was given to Miss H.A. Himali Manimelika, who runs a mushroom cultivation and a distribution business, while the best young upcoming entrepreneur award was given to Miss. H.M.D. Pushpika Ishani .

Miss H.A. Himali Manimelika, 'The Best young female entrepreneur award' of the Ampara district 

Miss. H.M.D. Pushpika Ishani, 'The best young upcoming entrepreneur ' award' of the Ampara district

They were recorgnised during the YBSL Young entrepreneur award & Youth Mini Trade Fair, which was held in Ampara district recently.

All the above awarded entrepreneurs comes under the Chambers YBSL program, which has given them training on entrepreneurship and also helped them start their businesses by empowering those youngsters with the required finances.

The latest effort, is a part of the YBSL’s aim to recognise the district wise entrepreneurs natured by them. 

Visit to our website: http://www.ybsl.lk/

SEMINAR ON “THE WHAT & WHY OF MENTORING”

YBSL and The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce organized a seminar on Mentoring for Corporates on Friday 5th September 2014 from 09.00 am to 11.00 am at Ground Floor Auditorium, The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. The main aim of this programme was to explore mentoring within the personnel of all ages in Corporates and how to create an effective & efficient environment around them.

The Seminar was conducted by Mr. John Cull, International Training & Management Consultant of Youth Business International – YBI from UK. 

During the seminar

During the seminar

During the seminar

During the seminar

During the seminar

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MENTOR TOT WORKSHOP FOR DISTRICT TEAMS

A mentor training of trainer (TOT) workshop was conducted for district YBSL team by YBSL. This training was facilitated by Mr. John Cull - YBI consultant and Rajesh - YBSL National mentoring coordinator on 4th September 2014 at the conference room of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. District mentoring coordinators and mentors from Ampara, Vavuniya, Mannar, Batticaloa, Kandy, Hambantota, Trincomalee and Anuradhapura districts participated in the workshop. 

YBSL national mentoring team

During the workshop

During the workshop

During the workshop

During the workshop

During the workshop

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THE MOTIVATOR AWARDS

Youth Business Sri Lanka honored its past chairmen, board of trustees, mentors and partners who have been with YBSL from its inception and assisted in guiding its success. The event was held on 4^th September 2014 at The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce auditorium. 

Also Mr. John Cull, Consultant of Youth Business International was honored as the motivator by YBSL at this event.

Past Chairman Mr. J.D. Bandaranayake receiving The Motivator award from present Chairman Mr. Samantha Ranathunga  

Immediate Past Chairman Dr. Anura Ekanayake receiving The Motivator award from present Chairman Mr. Samantha Ranathunga

Board of Trustee Mr. Nihal Abeysekara receiving The Motivator award from present Chairman Mr. Samantha Ranathunga

Board of Trustee Mr. Abbas Esufally receiving The Motivator award from present Chairman Mr. Samantha Ranathunga

YBSL partner Ms. Sanjeewani De Silva from Standard Charted Bank receiving The Motivator award from Mr. John Cull

Mentor manual launching by YBSL past chairmen

YBSL Mentor Mr. Nilan Kanagaratnam receiving mentor certificate from Deputy Secretary General of CCC Ms. Alikie Perera  

Visit to our website: http://www.ybsl.lk/

YOUTH BUSINESS SRI LANKA LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE AND MENTORING MANUAL

Youth Business Sri Lanka (YBSL) took the initiative to empower young Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to move to the next level with the launch of a new website on 4th September 2014, Wednesday.

The website will provide a wider reach within the country for the organisation which was incorporated within the auspices of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce since 2007, and will also increase the accessibility to a wealth of knowledge and experience from the many business leaders who volunteer their expertise to the YBSL. It can be reached at www.ybsl.lk. 

YBSL, which is modelled after Youth Business International (YBI), provides young entrepreneurs from many regions the necessary support in mentoring, acquiring funds and setting up their businesses.
The work carried out by the YBSL most significantly contributes to the national development by providing a feasible solution to the youth unemployment rate which, according to YBSL Chairman Samantha Ranatunga, is currently at about 30%. Such a statistic cannot be ignored if the country is to reach its ambitious targets for economic growth.
He noted: “A program of this magnitude can play significant role in addressing some of the problems that this country has and take the country to that economic targets that all of us envisage that we should have.”
YBSL Past Chairman Dr. Anura Ekanayake stressed on the importance of empowering the youth when it comes to maintaining social balance, saying: “Youth unemployment is an enormous destabilising factor for society in its entirety. If you look at the Arab Spring where there was a range of uprising and political upheavals, some of which is still not settled, one common factor was youth unemployment. We are tired of conflict. We have had several youth uprisings and a civil war. That is the reason why we are thought that promoting entrepreneurship in areas outside the metropolis is of critical importance for the nation.”

He also spoke on how the public sector may not be able to create enough jobs to accommodate these young job seekers in their full capacity: “When you look at the overall situation in Sri Lanka we cannot think of any possibility of expanding State sector employment anymore because we have one of the largest public services in the whole world. For every 14 to 15 Sri Lankan citizens (including newborn babies), we have a public servant. It’s no wonder we have a budget deficit of high single digits. A lot of the macro economic problems of the country are resulting from this budget deficit so the unemployment issue can’t be solved by providing public sector jobs for people.”

He further pointed out that when mentoring young entrepreneurs, focus should be placed on more sustainable business practices such as value addition instead of simply engaging in “trading activities”.

Thanks to Daily FT
Visit to our website: http://www.ybsl.lk/

YBSL SUPPORTS MEMBERS OF SRI LANKA EX MILTARY WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION “VIRULIYA SEVANA” ON ENTREPRENEUR TRAINING

Youth Business Sri Lanka, trained the members of Sri Lanka Ex-Army Women's Association “Viruliya Sevana” .The training program was arranged on 18^th of June in Viruliya Sevana Auditorium by Major Ramani Kangaraarachchi Founder President of Sri Lanka Ex-Miltary Women's Association. 25 members of Ex-service women of the three forces actively participated in the training workshop. YBSL Entrepreneur level – I training model has been introduced to them by YBSL team. This training workshop helped participants to learn how to identify their skills, strengths and weaknesses,  how to overcome the risks and challenges in building their ventures. 

An ice breaker during the workshop

YBSL and Viruliya Sevana team

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YBSL EXTENDS THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO NEW YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

Another 17 younger entrepreneurs of Vavuniya district have received financial support from YBSL under British Asia Trust (BAT) funding. The special event held on 9^th July 2014 at Auditorium of VDCCIA and arranged by YBSL Vavuniya unit.  The board of directors of VDCCIA, members of mentor committee, mentors and young entrepreneurs have participated in the event. 88% of young entrepreneurs are female and 75% of them are already in the businesses. And these entrepreneurs are being matched with mentors for next year and YBSL project team and mentoring committee closely monitoring them in order self-sustain.   

An entrepreneur receives the loan from President of VDCCIA 

An entrepreneur receives the loan from Secretary of VDCCIA  

An entrepreneur the receives loan from a mentor

A NEW MENTORS ARE MATCHED WITH MENTEES

17 new young entrepreneurs of YBSL have started the mentoring journey with their mentors in Vavuniya district. These relationships have been set for next one year to support and motivate young entrepreneurs who known as mentees. Experienced business people and professionals of Vavuniya district who are having the willingness and time to serve the community for economic betterment through volunteer support are engaged in this process. Matching were done by YBSL team based on the requirement of mentees and skills and experiences of mentor. First meetings of mentor and mentee pairs held on the last week at Auditorium of VDCCIA and led by P. Raman – District Programme Coordinator of YBSL Vavuniya unit.  

YBSL is improving the quality of volunteer mentoring with support of Youth Business International (YBI) and Accenture Grant in Sri Lanka and this is the first attempt under the Accenture Grant Round 3 mentoring development programme. 

First meeting session 

First meeting session 

First meeting session 

MENTEE TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

YBSL mentee training workshop was conducted for selected young entrepreneurs in Vavuniya district with the donor support of British Asia Trust (BAT), Youth Business International (YBI) and Accenture grant support in order to build awareness on one to one mentoring assistance.  Trained young entrepreneurs will be matched with mentors for one year to develop their skills and business.

End of the workshop

Ice breaker  session of the workshop

Ice breaker  session of the workshop

ENTREPRENEUR TRAINING WORKSHOP

Youth Business Sri Lanka has conducted a two days training workshops for young entrepreneurs of Vavuniya district on 5^th and 6^th May, 2014. The event was organized by Vavuniya YBSL unit under British Asia Trust (BAT) funding in order to develop soft skills of young entrepreneurs. Most of the training participants have been involved in poultry farming, cow raring, garments, multi shops, food business and beauty culture business. This training workshop has provided an opportunity to especially for young mothers, young widows and displaced young entrepreneurs.

First day of training workshop focused on business idea generation, business screening and entrepreneur skills. Second day of training workshop focused on business plan development. The successful entrepreneurs who has received the training and screened by the YBSL district selection committee will be financially supported to start and expand their ventures with mentoring support.  

An entrepreneur  talks about her business

Male participants

Group activity

Participants

Ice breaker session

Ice breaker session

Group discussion

MENTOR TRAINING WORKSHOP

Youth Business Sri Lanka has newly trained 18 mentors in Vavuniya district in order to increase mentoring support to young entrepreneurs. Vavuniya YBSL Unit has selected the local mentors who fit with the YBSL and YBI mentoring standards for the training. The training was held on Wednesday, May 07, 2014 at the Auditorium of Vavuniya district Chamber of Commerce Agriculture and Industries.

This was the third training workshop conducted for the volunteer mentors and all trained mentors will be matched with the young entrepreneurs for one year in one to one mentoring assistance. 

Participated mentors

During the workshop

ANOTHER BATCH OF YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED BY YBSL IN VAVUNIYA DISTRICT

12 young entrepreneurs are given the access to finance support for start and expand their ventures with YBSL – British Asia Trust Programme in Vavuniya district. The event was organized by YBSL – Vavuniya team on 12th April 2014 at the auditorium of Vavuniya District Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (VDCCIA).  President and director board of VDCCIA, mentors, project team, beneficiaries were participated in the event.

British Asia Trust (BAT) is playing a vital role as a donor in supporting the young entrepreneurs to develop their skills and build the enterprises in the post conflict regions of Sri Lanka.   

An entrepreneur receiving finance from the president of VDCCIA

An entrepreneur receiving finance from the treasurer of VDCCIA

WORKSHOP FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN POST CONFLICT AREA

Youth Business Sri Lanka (YBSL) has conducted two days of training workshops on 28th and 29th of January 2014 at Hotel Vanni Inn – Vavuniya to support educate and build capacity for upcoming young entrepreneurs on entrepreneurship, mentoring and business plan development. The programme is supported by British Asia Trust (BAT) and Accenture covering the two important elements entrepreneurship skills and mentorship assistance.  Selected entrepreneurs will be included the second batch of loan programme to start and expand their ventures. 

YBSL have been actively involved in the process of supporting prospective young entrepreneurs by providing relevant training, one on one mentoring and financial support.

Introduction session

Introduction session

Business plan development session