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A little bit further from home, but in keeping with our post last week, buzz this week is focused on One Young World, a summit that kicked off today in London. One Young World is a gathering of youthful (25 years or younger) leaders meant to represent each of the countries of the world. Over a thousand representatives from over one hundred countries will gather to and address such global crises as climate change, poverty and economic justice.
If this sounds nice and all, but perhaps a tad on the dreamy-eyed and unrealistic side, consider some of the heavy-hitters that are leading the discussion: 3 Nobel Laureates to start. Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the UN, Desmond Tutu, activist and humanitarian, Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and microfinance. Many other leaders within the humanitarian, political, and social enterprise sectors will be speaking with the delegates. While it may be unlikely that any world-shaking ideas will be formulated over the course of the 3 day event, the delegates aim to gather intellectual capital and resources for creating effective social programs/businesses upon their return home.
Ultimately, One Young World hopes not only to be a forum for reform, but also to establish a network of active and talented young individuals across the globe. It is hoped that this program may be useful in empowering the leaders of tomorrow, and that these individuals can be collected in their efforts. And when a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens come together…. Well, you know the rest…
Obama’s State of the Union address (transcript) last night was largely a call to action across many sectors of the nation. Although a message of change is hardly new coming from the Administration, some specific plans laid out in Obama’s speech are encouraging to small businesses and budding entrepreneurs. In particular, Obama proposed using ~30B of the returned bank bailout money to establish a fund designed for loans to small businesses in order to increase liquidity in a sector that currently faces trouble obtaining credit from larger banking institutions. Obama also proposed tax credits for small businesses that hire new employees, or raise the wages for existing employees during 2010.
While these plans must first traverse Congress in order to become a reality, some states are cautiously optimistic that these programs could help them recover their economies, particularly in the area of job creation. Indeed, in Michigan, the proposed business incentives, along with Obama’s continued focus on green energy, have given some hope that 2010 may help the state combat it’s unprecedented unemployment rate (currently at ~15% in some estimates).
