Young Entrepreneurs Support Contest

The Young Entrepreneurs Support Competition is a collaboration with youth in small communities and frontline territories. The competition is a component of the “Career Start: Youth Guarantee Program.” Its goal is to foster youth development in communities and, in doing so, strengthen the communities themselves.

“Young entrepreneurs in small towns and villages are the ones who don’t wait for someone to come and make changes – they start creating them on their own.”

Anastasiia Shymchuk,
Head of Programs at the Foundation

Our approach is rooted in the belief that access to resources for starting a business is what can turn local challenges into opportunities for young people. Entrepreneurial initiatives create jobs, develop family farms, educational projects, the service sector, and craft production. This builds a cohesive local ecosystem that enables young people to stay in their communities and help them grow.

Through the competition, we have supported 7 grantees in communities across the Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv regions.

The program was delivered by the Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Family Foundation together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Youth Foundation, in partnership with UNICEF and with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the German state development bank KfW.

Report and
other publications:

Feedback from Participants

My mindset has changed. Before the competition, I thought mostly about finances and purchasing the necessary equipment, but now I think more about growth.

My business is not just about food, it’s about the people behind it. That is what gives me the strength to grow, create new opportunities, and keep moving forward.

This winter season won’t be like last year. Because last winter I was simply standing idle, with no way to dry my raw materials. Three months with no work at all. Now the changes are enormous.