The recruitment period to apply to the 2017 G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance (YEA) Summit in Berlin, Germany is already at the halfway point.

Each year, 500 young entrepreneurs from YEA member organizations around the world come together to discuss policy building with regards to youth entrepreneurship, and to gain a one-of-a-kind international perspective on how to grow their businesses.

Founded in 2010, the YEA represents more than 500,000 entrepreneurs across all of the G20 countries, and works to promote and advance youth entrepreneurship by contributing to a communique that is then put forward to G20 leaders. The goal is to keep youth entrepreneurship on their radar as they build their policies for their own G20 platform.

Futurpreneur Canada is the official Canadian G20 YEA member and host organization, and was also one of the founding members back in 2010. They are currently recruiting 20 young entrepreneurs from all over Quebec and across Canada.

It’s an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to stand up and be an ambassador for entrepreneurship in their communities.

Applicants must be between 18 and 39 years old and can have any kind of business in any industry, including the non-profit and social enterprise sectors.

“This year we’re looking for 20 young entrepreneurs who are growth oriented. They’ve been in business for two years or more or they can demonstrate a willingness to grow their businesses,” Fiona Wilson told MTLinTECH. She is this year’s Canadian G20 YEA Sherpa, and will be leading the upcoming delegation to Berlin on behalf of Futurpreneur Canada.

This year’s summit will take place in Berlin, Germany from June 15th - 17th, 2017 and is expected to attract around 400 international young entrepreneurs. The theme of “Digital Trends for Future Business” is in line with the YEA focus on growth and expansion.

“It’s a really fantastic experience. We’ve seen lots of young entrepreneurs who hadn’t considered expanding into those markets have a really invaluable international opportunity and have the ability to go down there and meet partners and go to b2b meetings and really open their eyes. It’s a chance to participate in really important discussions with entrepreneurs from across the G20 countries, about how to change policies that affect them.”

Entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply up until February 15th, and can apply here.

“It’s also fun. It’s a really great trip and you get to enjoy being with other like-minded entrepreneurs experiencing another market.”