GEN Announces Finalists for Startup Nations Award for Groundbreaking Policy Thinking

The Global Entrepreneurship Network announced five finalists for the Startup Nations Award for Groundbreaking Policy Thinking. The award recognizes individuals or organizations for their instrumental analysis, innovative policy approaches or groundbreaking program concepts that expand the frontier of entrepreneurship policy thinking around the world.

The award is one of three Startup Nations Awards that will be presented at the Startup Nations Summit Gala on Nov. 19, in Cork, Ireland.

“Brilliant and dedicated minds around the world are hard at work helping to create the right environment to advance entrepreneurial growth via intellectual direction that leads to smarter, evidence-based policymaking,” said Cristina Fernandez, director of policy and research for GEN.

Read the full release here.

Ms. Efka Heder
Croatia
Director, South East European Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (SEECEL)

Ms. Heder was selected for her commitment toward scaling entrepreneurship education efforts across Southeastern Europe, and fostering regional stability through cross-border entrepreneurship education collaboration. Despite a context of political instability and socioeconomic challenges in the Balkans, Ms. Heder elevated entrepreneurial learning as a priority policy area – resulting in a unique combination of national ownership, regional cooperation and policy learning.

Dr. Hugo Kantis
Argentina
Director, Entrepreneurship Development Program (PRODEM)

Dr. Kantis is recognized for devoting his career to narrowing the knowledge and talent gaps to foster high-impact entrepreneurship ecosystems in Latin America. He has led a multi-pronged effort to shift the policy mindset of a whole continent from a focus on microenterprises toward promoting dynamic entrepreneurship from a systemic perspective. His achievements elevated the concept of evidence-based policymaking, as well as encouraged regular regional knowledge exchange to more effectively support entrepreneurs.

Mr. Caleb Carr 
New Zealand
President, Students for Intellectual Property Rights

While studying at the University of Colorado, Mr. Carr learned 75 percent of his startup’s technology would be owned by the university, irrelevant of whether he used university funds. Upon further investigation, he embraced a policy battle with a vision of protecting the value that entrepreneurship can add to a student’s life. His efforts have revolutionized the notion of intellectual property ownership at the state and university levels in the U.S.

Dr. Zoltan Acs
United States
Founder, Global Entrepreneurship Development Institute (GEDI)

Dr. Acs is recognized for his dedication to tracing and benchmarking the development of entrepreneurship ecosystems globally. In particular, he has pushed the envelope on improving indices to more accurately capture the reality of entrepreneurship ecosystems, moving measurements beyond new firm counts and self-employment data to an approach that captures both individual and institutional factors when evaluating ecosystem performance.

Mr. Yung-ku Ha 
South Korea
Chairman, Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs (Dream Bank)

Mr. Ha has shown extraordinary commitment to creating a pipeline of Fintech entrepreneurs via a multi-faceted approach and stakeholder involvement. In cooperation with Korea’s major banks, passionate entrepreneurs, investors, government leaders, universities, and global partners, Mr. Ha opened a market for fintech startups. Inclusiveness has been critical in his strategies. Mr. Ha has patiently worked with conservative institutions to convince them to embrace innovation even in traditional sectors.

About Global Entrepreneurship Network

The Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN)  operates a platform of projects and programs in 170 countries aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. By fostering deeper cross border collaboration through initiatives engaging entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurial support organizations, GEN works to fuel healthier start and scale ecosystems that create jobs, educate individuals, accelerate innovation and strengthen economic growth. For details on the programs and initiatives that make up GEN, visit genglobal.org and follow @unleashingideas on Twitter.