Rabat - The U.S. Department of State announced on May 26 the strategic partners and steering committee for the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) to be hosted by President Obama June 22-24 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
Rabat – The U.S. Department of State announced on May 26 the strategic partners and steering committee for the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) to be hosted by President Obama June 22-24 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
More than 700 entrepreneurs from 170 countries around the world, including a large number of social entrepreneurs, are expected to attend to participate in three days of interactive discussions and workshops with top Silicon Valley executives and investors from around the world.
Given that participation in the actual summit is limited compared to previous years, separate events, such as a speed mentoring session sponsored by the Middle East and North Africa Consultants Association in conjunction with the Association of Moroccan Professionals in America, will be held on the sidelines of the conference.
The State Department is also working with select strategic partners through the SPARK Initiative, a consortium of organizations committed to supporting greater investment in global entrepreneurship. The selected partners share President Obama’s commitment to entrepreneurship and are committed to supporting the Summit, a unique event intended to spur innovation across the globe. These partners will help the GES delegates transform ideas into reality.
GES Partners will contribute to the overall experience of the Summit through the creation of networking lounges, a “portals to” project to connect entrepreneurs around the world, opening and closing receptions to solidify investor and entrepreneur relationships, a Global Launch Lounge to encourage new commitments toward global entrepreneurship, the Dell PolicyHackTM, and the creation of the Innovation Marketplace— the main hub of activities, tools, and resources for attendees of the GES.
Partners will also provide direct services for the entrepreneur delegates during the conference including connections with top mentors and investors in Silicon Valley, funding and prizes for the winning youth and women entrepreneurs of the GES+ Spark the Fire pitch competition, travel sponsorship for need-based entrepreneurs to attend, global media coverage, and programs to help entrepreneurs continue to grow and scale even after the Summit.
The GES 2016 Global Partners include:
- Al Jazeera Media Network
- Blackstone Charitable Foundation
- Bloomberg L.P.
- Dalberg Global Development Advisors
- Dell Inc.
- Deloitte
- Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
- Ernst & Young
- GE
- Google for Entrepreneurs
- Kauffman Foundation
- Microsoft
- Omidyar Network
- PayPal
- Samsung
- Silicon Valley Bank
- Skoll Foundation
- Stanford University
- Stripe
- Walmart
- World Bank Group
Members of the newly created summit Steering Committee will provide program advice, support, and guidance to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. As leading professionals in their fields, their assistance will ensure that the Summit is an invaluable tool for entrepreneurs as they build their businesses. The members of the Steering Committee for the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit are:
- Astri Kimball, Google
- Danny Navarro, Google for Entrepreneurs
- David Demarest, Stanford University
- Elizabeth Gore, Dell Inc.
- Jonathan Ortmans, SPARK
- Kate O’Sullivan, Microsoft Corporation
- Renee Kaplan, Skoll Foundation
- Suzana Grego, Skoll Foundation
- Tony Tolentino, Blackstone Charitable Foundation
- Victor Hwang, Kauffman Foundation
Morocco World News will provide coverage of the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit as an approved media participant.
More information on the Global Entrepreneurship Summit is available at www.ges2016.org. Follow the summit at @ges2016 on Twitter and ges2016 on Instagram.
For more information on MENA Consultants, go to menaconsultants.org/.
More information on AMPA is available at www.amp-usa.org/.
