Twenty Young Canadian Entrepreneurs Selected to Join Canadian Delegation at the G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit in Mexico

May 3, 2012 – Toronto, ON –The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) announced today the names of the 23 individuals who will form the official Canadian delegation at the G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit (G20 YES) in Mexico City, Mexico, this summer. The G20 YES is an official program of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (G20 YEA). CYBF represents Canada on the G20 YEA.
Twenty dynamic young Canadian entrepreneurs, in addition to senior leadership from CYBF, have been selected to participate in the G20 YES, an annual international summit that brings together dedicated and influential entrepreneurs of the G20 countries, between June 3 and June 5, 2012. At the summit, delegates will collaborate with their international colleagues, discussing critical issues including ways that governments and business communities can best harness the potential of young entrepreneurs, while also driving public policy, raising awareness and providing a voice for young entrepreneurs around the globe. Conclusions resulting from these discussions will be drafted into an official communiqué to be presented to the G20 world leaders in Cabo San Lucas at the end of June.
Representing Canada will be:
Young Entrepreneurs:

  • Devon Brooks, Blo Blow Dry Bar, British Columbia
  • Lisa Von Sturmer, Growing City (Growing City UrbanEco Enterprises), British Columbia
  • Harry Chemko, Elastic Path Software Inc., British Columbia
  • Andy Tsai, ReFleX Wireless, British Columbia
  • Barbara McLean-Stollery, Executive Airways Grooming Services, Alberta
  • Lindsey Parkin, Parma Ventures Inc., Alberta
  • Martin Park, Evolve Business Group Inc., Alberta
  • Bryan McCrea, 3twenty Solutions Inc., Saskatchewan
  • Matthew Hudson, Invenia, Technical Computing Corporation, Manitoba
  • Arjun Kumar, Kela Medical Inc., Ontario
  • Armen Bakirtzian, Avenir Medical Inc., Ontario
  • Vinod Rajasekaran, The Hub Ottawa, Ontario
  • Oliver Letard, PCO Innovation, Québec
  • Stéphane Élie, Symbiose Communication, Québec
  • Jasmine Gervais, Orangerine Inc., Québec
  • Awane Jones, Monumental Technologies/Merchlar, Québec
  • Bassil Salim-Jones, Monumental Technologies/Merchlar, Québec
  • Jean-René Lemire, Vigneault Chocolatier Ltée, Québec
  • Scott Walton, Enovex, New Brunswick
  • Lesley Steele, Eastern Passage Village Veterinary Hospital, Nova Scotia

CYBF Leadership from Toronto, Ontario:

  • Vivian Prokop: CEO of CYBF,
    Founding Chair of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance and President of
    the G20 YES Canadian delegation
  • Katrina White: Chief Strategic Officer of CYBF and Canadian Sherpa G20 YES
  • Scott Bowman: Director,
    Government Relations of CYBF, G20 YES Canadian Delegation Lead

“The Canadian Youth Business Foundation is proud that the G20 YES, an initiative we founded only two years ago, has grown in magnitude internationally,” explains Vivian Prokop, chief executive officer of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation and founding chair of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance. “Our Canadian delegation has been strategically selected to represent the voice of young entrepreneurs. They are all mavericks; passionate about innovation, entrepreneurial leadership and building the strongest possible culture of entrepreneurship in Canada. They will wow the world at the G20 YES in Mexico City and will return with indispensable international connections and a fresh perspective on entrepreneurial innovation.”
The Summit in Mexico is the fourth of its kind to happen internationally. CYBF founded and hosted the inaugural G20 YES in Toronto in June 2010, inviting 200 young entrepreneurs and the top youth entrepreneurship organization from each of the G20 countries resulting in the development of a communiqué delivered to the G20 leaders, followed by an October 2012 Summit in Incheon, Republic of South Korea. The 2011 summit was held in Nice, France with over 500 delegates. The inaugural Summit also resulted in the creation of the G20 YEA, an international network of like-minded organizations supporting youth entrepreneurship.

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Canadian Youth Business Foundation – Canada’s Entrepreneur Gateway
The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) is the ‘go to’ place for youth entrepreneurship. As a national organization, we are dedicated to growing Canada’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. CYBF is the founder of G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit (G20 YES) and founding member of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (G20 YEA). For more information, visit www.cybf.ca.

G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit-Mexico
The G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit Mexico is a gathering of young entrepreneurs (age 18-40) and entrepreneurship-focused organizations from the G20 countries. Hosted by COPAMREX, it provides valuable input to government leaders to assist in driving sustainable global economic growth, exchange ideas and to foster international partnerships and collaboration. The G20 YES is an official program of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance. For more information, visit www.g20yes.com.

G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (G20 YEA)
The G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance is a collective of leading entrepreneurially-minded organizations representing the G20 countries who seek to promote youth entrepreneurship as a powerful driver of economic renewal, job creation, innovation and social change. The Alliance was founded as a movement to engage the G20 leaders in the cause of youth entrepreneurship, share information across borders, affect positive policy change and create a global network of young entrepreneur advocates while building a collaborative entrepreneurial environment worldwide. For more information, visit www.g20yea.com.

For more information, contact:
Nicolee Tattersall
Manager, Media Relations
Canadian Youth Business Foundation
Office: 416.408.2923 ext. 2208
Cell: 647.405.2923
ntattersall@cybf.ca