Canada Youth to Business Breakfast Output

Youth to Business Breakfast Output & Youth to Business 2015 Initial Plan

Dear Youth to Business Breakfast Participants,

On behalf of AIESEC Canada, thank you for taking the time on March 5th, 2014 to participate in the Youth to Business Breakfast. Over the past few months, we have reviewed the discussions, done additional research, and compiled all the information into an initial plan for the Youth to Business Forum 2015 in Calgary.

An initial plan for our Youth to Business Forum 2015 is in the attached slide deck. AIESEC Canada would like to hear your feedback and recommendations to improve our plans for the conference. The output and conversations we had at the Youth to Business Breakfast were very valuable to our conference planning and we would like to continue working with you to build the conference.

As a brief summary, the overall theme for the Youth to Business Forum is and will be for the next few years: How do youth and businesses work together to drive Canadian competitiveness? Five themes we have identified that are important to Canadian competitiveness are: 1) Skills Shortages – Competencies in Youth, 2) Energy Literacy and Sustainability, 3) Barriers to Success in Global Markets, 4) Building Competitive Cities, and 5) Innovation and Creativity.

All the themes except for Building Competitive Cities comes from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s “Top 10 Barriers to Competitiveness”. These are themes we believe young people are interested in and can contribute to. Thank you again for attending the Youth to Business Forum Breakfast and we look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

Aviel Chow

National Vice President Business Development

Overview

Every year, AIESEC Canada develops purposeful, self-aware young leaders with effective communication skills by sending over 450 students abroad on international internships and bringing about 80 young leaders from the rest of the world to work in Canada. Students in AIESEC have an incredible opportunity for growth and development as the entire organization facilitates 27,000 international internships every year and is entirely run by youth – giving young leaders global exposure and the opportunity to gain practical experience running all aspects of an international organization.

In May 2015, AIESEC Canada is bringing 300 young leaders from across Canada for our National Leadership Development Conference. This conference provides leadership training for students running the AIESEC business in their cities. On May 8 th, 2015, these young leaders will join with 100 local student leaders, and 100 business people for our annual Youth to Business Forum. The Youth to Business Forum brings Youth and Businesses together to discuss the critical issues facing Canadian Competitiveness.

The National Leadership Development Conference develops the leader, but the Youth to Business Forum drives these leaders towards a purpose relevant to Canada. It is also an incredible opportunity for youth and businesses to understand and to learn from each other. For businesses, this is a great opportunity to learn about youth perspectives, to recruit, and to engage young leaders who have the skills and desire to make an impact wherever they work.

Conference Flow, Objectives, and Themes

Conference Objectives:

1)Help Youth understand the challenges (themes) listed below 2)Discuss unique solutions and actions that have been taken to overcome the

challenges3)Allow youth to come up with solutions in the business creativity competition

Conference Themes: How do youth and businesses work together to drive Canadian Competitiveness?

Skills Shortages – Competencies in YouthEnergy Literacy & Sustainability

Barriers to Success in Global MarketsBuilding Competitive CitiesInnovation and Creativity

Overall Agenda

8:30 ~ 9:00 Networking Breakfast9:00 ~ 10:30 Morning Keynote (Series of 5 speakers, one for each theme, discussing the importance of their theme to Canadian Competitiveness and how youth can be part of the solution.10:30 ~ 11:00 Networking

Breakout into Groups (see following slides for theme agendas)

12:00 ~ 1:00 Lunch & KeynoteReconvene

2:30 ~ 3:00 Networking3:00 ~ 5:00 Creativity Competition: Create a business plan for a business that tackles the problems discussed today5:00 ~ 6:00 Pre-Judging6:00 ~ 7:00 Final Judging Round7:00 ~ 8:00 Dinner & Closing Keynote

Skills Shortages – Competencies in YouthProblem: According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the greatest barrier to Canadian Competitiveness is the growing skills gap. Youth unemployment and underemployment is identified as one of the four key priority areas. Indeed, several of our current partners work with AIESEC because they believe AIESEC develops core competencies that are missing in many young employees. During the Breakfast, many of you identified the lack of leadership with baby boomers stepping down, the lack of initiative in youth, and the need for better communication skills as some of the issues facing Alberta.

Breakout Agenda (~100 Delegates)

11:00 ~ 11:50: Panel Discussion with experts on the skills gaps and HR experts that understand the core competencies desired in youth.

(Potential panelists from: Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Productivity Alberta, Calgary Economic Development, Canadian Chamber of Commerce…)

1:00 ~ 2:20: Youth Voice Survey Round Tables (Youth and Businesses Together):(AIESEC will use the youth voice survey to better understand youth attitudes towards employment and competencies in youth. AIESEC will use the survey data to facilitate conversations around the data)

Or1:00 ~ 2:20: Panel of Successful Projects tackling the skills gap:

(Example panelists such as: RBC’s Rehana Ciriani on the RBC Career Launch Program, Lauren Friese CEO of TalentEgg on connecting students and recent grads with employers, McDonald’s National Hiring Day)

Energy Literacy and SustainabilityProblem: According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, “social license” issues is increasingly important to the competitiveness of the resources sector. This effects access to resources, access to markets, and access to labor. According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Top 10 Barriers 2013 report, CIBC estimated that not securing a world price for Canadian oil exports cost the Canadian economy approximately $19 billion. In order to overcome the problem of market access, students need to improve energy literacy, and Canada needs to continue improving on sustainability.

Breakout Agenda (~100 Delegates)

11:00 ~ 11:50: “Myth Busters” Panel Discussion & Debate(Leaders in the O&G industry such as Cenovus sit on a panel

with non-profit organizations such as Pembina Institute, and discuss facts and fiction about the industry.

1:00 ~ 2:20: Clean technologies, environmental entrepreneurship, and environmental technologies & projects showcase

(The objective is to display the diverse solutions there are to the challenge and the efforts that have been made. To that end we do not want to restrict companies to organizations working with the resource sector. IE. P&G’s Zero Deforestation by

2020 project.)

Barriers to Success in Global MarketsProblem: According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, success in global markets is integral to Canada’s competitiveness: in particular, Canadian exports has been significantly lower than counterparts such as UK and US. Export Development Canada has been a long time supporter and sponsor of AIESEC Canada, as AIESEC continues to send youth to emerging markets for practical working and volunteering experiences. How can Canadian businesses build relationships with new customers, suppliers, and access capital abroad?

Breakout Agenda (~100 Delegates)

11:00 ~ 11:50: Challenges to Succeeding Abroad and Canadian Success Stories Abroad

(The format will be a panel discussion or an interesting presentation/interactive. We want to inspire students to think about what value their international experiences brings with stories such as Cowater story EDC shares: www.edc.ca.

1:00 ~ 2:20: Country Specific Round Table Discussions (AIESEC can bring students with experience in emerging

markets together with businesses and professionals with experience abroad to better understand the challenges in emerging markets and how we can prepare young leaders to

overcome those challenges.)

Building Competitive Cities

Problem: There is little doubt that cities are becoming more and more important and are moving to the center stage. Today, global cities are competing to retain and attract top minds, businesses, and tourists. In Calgary Economic Development’s Soul of the City series, Mayor Nenshi talks about the “urban fabric” of a city and the aspects of a city beyond the “bones of the city” such as roads and infrastructure. How can we improve the attractiveness of Canadian cities?

Breakout Agenda (~100 Delegates)

11:00 ~ 11:50: Presentation from highlights of the Soul of the City (CED) Series? (Some interesting speakers could include the Calgary

Stampede, Encana on The Bow, the founder of YYCFoodTrucks etc.)

1:00 ~ 2:20: Round Table Discussions – Businesses and Youth(The Canada Leger Youth Voice Survey will ask various

questions about what attracts youth to cities, industries, and businesses. Some of these students will have worked internationally and many will have connections to youth at other top universities. How can businesses and youth work together to bring more

competitive young leaders to Canadian cities?)

Innovation and Creativity

Problem: Innovation has been a long standing challenge to Canadian competitiveness. In the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s report, Insufficient support for innovation in Canadian manufacturing was one of the top 10 barriers to Canadian Competitiveness. In Deloitte’s Report The Future of Productivity, Deloitte lists innovation and risk-aversion as key reasons for Canada’s productivity gap. How do we foster a creativity and entrepreneurial spirit in youth to create new businesses to tackle old challenges or to bring new solutions to existing companies in Canada?

Breakout Agenda (~100 Delegates)

11:00 ~ 11:50: Change Agents and Innovation in businesses - Panel(In a 2007 survey done by Leger Marketing, 88% of CEOs

believed innovation was important, 45% believed they had a culture that fostered innovation and 22% a formal process for innovation. How can the new generation of leaders innovate within

organizations?

1:00 ~ 2:20: Entrepreneur’s Speed Networking – Learn what it’s like to start a business

(What is it like to start a business? What employment needs and young talent do startups need? We can bring young leaders and entrepreneurs together to think about entrepreneurship)