GEN-E Empowering the entrepreneurial potential of Europe’s Youth
Cyprus is awarded at the European Entrepreneurship Festival GEN-E 2023
Maro Manolis is among the top three women leaders
The “EY Gen-E Young Women Leaders Award” for Maro Manolis of “E-mbracelet” honored the Cypriot delegation at the European Entrepreneurship Competition GEN-E held 12-14 July 2023 in Istanbul.
Gen-E 2023 is Europe’s largest Youth Entrepreneurship Festival, organized by JA Europe and hosted this year by JA Turkey. The European entrepreneurship competition Gen-E 2023 brought together over 800 young entrepreneurs, their educators, business partners and policymakers from across Europe for an impressive exhibition of business ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The Gen-E Festival also combines two annual European entrepreneurship competitions for the winners of the JA Company Programme and the JA Start-Up Programme from 40+ countries. During the event, the Entrepreneurial Schools of Europe were also awarded. Cyprus was represented by Olympion High School, which was awarded for its overall action in developing students’ entrepreneurial skills.
Cyprus participated in the competitions with this year’s national winning team of the Company Programme FRESHIES and the winning team of the StartUp programme E-mbracelet. FRESHIES, a student company from G.C. School represented by Andreas Christoforou, Christina Paraskeva, Michel Manthopoulou, Vera Kyriakou and Anna Maria Kouma. The student company with the support of their teachers Katerina Charalambous and Elena Paschalis and their mentor Kypros Liveras created toilet cleaning product containing soluble, foamy, cleansing capsules. The aim is to eliminate bacteria and unpleasant odors by replacing them with a fresh lavender scent.
The company E-mbracelet has the mission to help people with autism spectrum disorder live happier lives. Their product is a smart bracelet with heart monitoring and a unique sound analysis function that provides personalized statistics to the user through the app. Their mission is to cultivate understanding and empathy for people with autism. The team of the University of Cyprus was supported by their professor Dr. Daina Nicolaou and their mentor Marinos Mitsiou.
Maro Manolis, from the “E-mbracelet” team, was honored with the “EY Gen-E Young Women Leaders Award”. The award is given to individuals who demonstrate outstanding leadership skills that impact their team throughout the JA program. These leaders have role models, motivation as well as teamwork and have evolved through the JA program. The winners of the EY Gen-E Young Women Leaders Award exemplify young leaders with remarkable managerial skills.
She said: “It was a great honour to receive the prestigious EY Gen-E Young Women Leaders Award at the prestigious Gen-E Awards ceremony in Istanbul. This recognition holds a special place in my heart as it marks recognition of my dedication and accomplishments as a young female leader. I am incredibly grateful for this honor, which further fuels my commitment to empower and inspire other aspiring women leaders.”
Our young people had the unique opportunity initially to participate in such a large event with 800+ participants from all over Europe, to exchange knowledge and experiences with people of their age, to broaden their horizons, to face new challenges and of course with remarkable opportunities.
The Organization expresses its gratitude to the partners of the programs, PwC, MetLife, ASBIS, ECOMMBX, Ministry of Energy and Commerce, Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, University of Nicosia and the Research and Innovation Foundation.
JA Cyprus (www.jacyprus.org) is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, a global non-profit organization specialized in youth entrepreneurship education that aims to empower them with entrepreneurship, financial literacy and employability skills.
For more information you can visit our website www.jacyprus.org or contact us at info@jacyprus.org
