On Tuesday, 25 March 2025, approximately 35 people from all over the globe joined our CYE Webinar hosted by EVP Africa & America Saïdou Sanou & VP assigned to Europe Stefanie van der Sman. How do you start the CYE Program in your country, and if you have already started, how do you improve it and take it to the next level?
The final day of the 2022 Growth & Development Academy hosted by the European Development Council had arrived. In line for coffee, my husband and 2020 National President of JCI the Netherlands and also 2022 EDC Councillor, said just a little bit too loud: ‘Tessa, you might want to join the CYE program in Bruges during the European Conference! Altuğ [2022 VP Altugg Türkdali, JCI Turkiye] can tell you all about it! ’ Altug and I looked at each other and laughed. ‘What’s CYE?’ I asked. ’
I was part of the audience and witnessed my first CYE experience in Bruges. And from that moment, I knew I had to bring CYE back home to the Netherlands and get to tell as many people about it as possible.
Fast forward to March 2025. JCI the Netherlands had just organized their second edition of CYE in January, and I myself am so very happy to be part of the 2025 Events & Programs Committee. To me, CYE is the opportunity for young leaders to develop their skill set in business, pitching and presenting, in partnerships and leadership. CYE is not only about the best business idea. It’s about sharing your vision with the audience, convincing them of its potential, and performing on a local, national, and international stage.
Teaming up with EVP Saïdou Sanou, VP Stefanie van der Sman, and committee member Wiersma Kombe from JCI Zambia, we hosted a webinar on CYE on 25 March 2025. We invited 2024 Global Winner Irmak Çağlayanel (JCI Turkiye) and 2022 Global Winner Stanley Anigbogu (JCI Nigeria) to share their experience joining the program, pitching on stage, and eventually… winning!
Stanley at the time was one of the top ten young entrepreneurs in Nigeria when the JCI team told him about CYE and that he should apply. And that’s his advice to members and potential competitors: join the program or you are missing out on so many interesting opportunities. Stanley describes CYE as a life-changing event that inspired him to go the extra mile: CYE might see something you might see in yourself, it’s an inspiration, motivation, learning experience, and adventure.
Irmak’s biggest learning was sharing her story, to speak simply for a crowd of people from 80 or so countries. Her pitch had to be clear to everyone, it should convince them and be most effective. Stanley had the same learning experience. He also had to find a way to communicate his business so people could relate. His advice is to make it personal, to tell your story from a personal perspective, and put it in a global context. Also, Irmak mentions reading the documents on the website, preparing a very simple pitch deck, and making most of the six minutes extra when the jury can ask their questions. During the competition, she even became a JCI member, board member in her Local Organization JCI Izmir, and 2025 Local CYE Director!
2022 & 2023 CYE Director Hakan Aktay (JCI Turkiye) and 2025 CYE Director Hana Křenková (JCI Czech Republic) joined the session to share their amazing experiences either organizing CYE very successfully for the first time and taking CYE to the next level, including an entire summit.
Hakan shared his experience, stressing how important it is for different countries to start implementing CYE. The fact that CYE is a global program brings so many opportunities. For example, its networking opportunities: entrepreneurs that attend the national events and area conferences meet up with each other and possible investors. Partners for the event are crucial, they just have to know the potential of CYE and be given ample opportunity to be in the spotlight themselves. Another major piece of advice from Hakan is to maximize the visibility of participants and winners, the same goes for the prizes that they can win. JCI Turkiye really takes time and puts in the effort to prepare the national winners for Area Conferences. And with success!
2025 IPP Hana was so dedicated and decisive to organize CYE in the Czech Republic. It took them less than a couple of months to organize CYE, and it was such a great success. In the Czech Republic, there are numerous regional entrepreneur programs, but not a national or international one. JCI took the opportunity to contact the regional events to invite their finalists to join CYE. What they also did was team up with the Rotaract European Meeting; CYE was part of their event. That way they secured both the location and audience. The organization reached out to many companies for partnerships; some became sponsors, others were on the judges, and they have put CYE on the map. JCI Czech Republic gained visibility, new members, and partnerships and will be in Herning during the 2025 European Conference. We are looking forward to that!
Overall and widely shared advice: step up, just start. I myself am just so very lucky to have been at that coffee machine in 2022, meeting the right people, getting introduced to the program, and taking it from there. Your time is now. Ask former organizers and your VP for advice and help. Reach out. Experience CYE, learn by doing, and enjoy the ride. We are happy to meet you and your finalists during the Area Conferences and maybe in Tunis during the World Congress; we can’t wait!
Thanks to everyone who was part of the organization of the webinar, you all know who you are!