12 months, 3 continents, 11 countries, countless meetings and numerous young entrepreneurs met just to realize that we face similar challenges. The biggest personal take for me, after this one year, is that we – the young leaders – are equal in our differences and creativity arises from diversity.
Today is my last day as YES for Europe President and I would like to share with all readers my personal insight I am passing the torch to the new, well-balanced team of inspiring fellow young entrepreneurs representing countries from both the old and the new European Union. They are not only young and successful entrepreneurs already but most importantly they are my friends who share the same vision of Europe.
I have heard many a time that we are living in challenging times and this I tend to agree. However, I disagree with those who claim the times are harder then before. The world has never been safer it is today and what we need to understand and appreciate is the ability to know how to learn from the past and simple … common sense. Paraphrasing Wislawa Szymborska – the Polish poet and a Nobel-prize winner: “The times are as tough as we have been experienced”. Let us wish that we won’t be as experienced as our parents and grandparents have been.
Therefore, I want to thank all of you I have met throughout my journey this year who sacrifice their business or family time to devote themselves to a bigger cause. I want to thank all of you who are not afraid to act – to make sure the voice of young entrepreneurs is loud and heard. These are people involved in G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (YEA), Allied for Start-ups, European Startup Network or JADE just to name a few. Most importantly these are my friends from YES for Europe family. We are 22 organizations at the moment wishing for stronger and more resilient Europe.
Whatever you might hear or see, my personal experience is that wherever I go in Europe and speak to whatever entrepreneurs I always hear one thing: we want stronger and more resilient EU. This is why YES has been heavily involved and supported the Rome Manifesto – the new Vision of the Federal European Union. This is also why, we – as G20 YEA – have come up with the mobility visa scheme for young entrepreneurs and present it to the G20 leaders. We did it to make sure it is possible for young professionals to run their business no matter where they are or where they want to be.
The New Year is coming, and I wish to myself and to all of you my dear European friends that we are able to speak (and listen) to each other, that we can draw from our rich (and tragic) history and that we can build (and maintain) together a new Europe without any borders.
Happy and successful New Year everybody!
Przemyslaw Grzywa
General Director and former President
YES for Europe
31th December, 2017
By courtesy of Yes for Europe (http://www.yesforeurope.eu/blog/wish-eu-2018/)