events calendar,Hangzhou is fast becoming a platform for young entrepreneurs to develop and
nurture their ideas.At the 2017 Youth Conference, held on November 10 in
Hangzhou, Andrew Shirman was one such innovator of ideas. Shirman came
to China seven years ago after graduating from Boston College in the US.
He joined a program called “Teach for China” in Yunnan Province in the
far southwest. There he developed an idea to start a social enterprise
to help nearsighted children in Yunnan to get free glasses. He now has a
company in Beijing.
At the conference he met Audrey Cheng and Muhammed Fazeel, who are both young entrepreneurs and professionals under the age of 30, like
him, coming from different parts of the world. They weren’t the only
three. Over 500 such young change-makers from more than 60 countries
were invited to share their stories and experiences and connect with
each other at the conference.
Global Shapers Community and Elite Eagle Hangzhou Entrepreneurship Development Association enabled the event. They are two of the most
active startup communities for young people in Hangzhou and worldwide.
An initiative born out of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Global Shapers Community is a network of inspiring young people, under the age
of 30, to work together to address local, regional and global
challenges. A board of directors governs it with people such as Klaus
Schwab, the founder of WEF and Jack Ma, founder of the Alibaba Group.
Launched in 2011, the community presently has more than 6,900 members, or what they call “shapers,” and they have set up 377 hubs in
450 cities worldwide.
In each city, teams of “shapers” create projects that address the needs of their community, from responding to disasters and combating
poverty, to fighting climate change and building inclusive
communities.Our Zurich hub, for example, worked with the Volkswagen
Group’s Switzerland branch, to introduce green energy to local taxis,”
said Shimer Diao, community leader at Asia region of World Economic
Forum.
Hangzhou joined the network in 2015. Its present 18 members of the Hangzhou hub come from different industries with a variety of work and
life experiences.
One member, Li Chao, is the founder of an online English language learning company targeting students and young professionals.
“I think the hub is a great place to meet people as it gathers all the top young leaders in each industry. I learnt a lot from them for
operating my business,” said Li.
