YESW 2018

With a mission to promote entrepreneurship, the Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs Forum (NYEF) organized Laxmi Bank fourth Young Entrepreneurs Summit Women 2018 (YESW) on January 20 at Hotel Radisson with the theme of Connect, Collaborate, Create. The program had 170 participants including entrepreneurs, students and CEOs. The participants were welcomed by NYEF Kathmandu Chapter Executive Member Prasanna Basnet, Co-founder of Cotton Mill. Shailee Basnet, former journalist who scaled Mt Everest and now leads programs dedicated to education and empowerment and is an international motivational speaker, gave an empowering keynote speech titled Everest to Empowerment. She shared how mountaineering expedition had helped her in transformation and taught her to stand for herself. She said the Nepali society is very accepting if women can prove themselves. The participants were charged up with an icebreaker session hosted by Karkhana. The event was followed by insights into the inspiring entrepreneurial journeys of Sewa Pathak, Finance Operation Director at Vianet; Anisha Shakya, Founder of Muskan, and Prathana Saakha, Co Founder of Helmets Nepal. Pathak shared the learning experience to believe in ambition, not to jump in something just because your peers are doing it, to embrace entrepreneurship to make it successful and build a strong network with all the stakeholders. Saakha said entrepreneurship is about balance ideas, innovation and making the world a better place, and not only about making money. A moderated panel discussion on ‘Women Entrepreneurs – WE the Change Makers’ followed with Haushala Thapa as the moderator. The panel included Kreeti Shakya of Kazi Studios, Claire Naylor of Women Lead Nepal and Nivita Pradhan of Hydro Solutions. These vibrant and key players in the Nepali market discussed the resistance to change in accepting women leaders and steps to overcome it, the role of social media and learning encounters. Entrepreneurship: the Spirit and The Strategies was a learning workshop led by Manasi Agrawal and Legal Things To Remember When You Start A Business was led by Shraddha Bhattarai. The event also had inspirational stories sharing by Samiksha Rai, Pack MyLunch (food service contractor), Aayushi KC of Khalisisi and Priya Joshi of #MakerKT. A brief introduction to NYEF was presented by Juna Mathema, Chair and YESW Committee. The event ended with networking among attendees and stall observation. NYEF had started the summit in 2013. The title Sponsor of this edition of the event was Laxmi Bank and the Gold Sponsors were the International Labor Organization (ILO), Government of Nepal Ministry of Agricultural Development, UNNATI- Inclusive Growth Programme in Nepal funded by the Danish Government, DebaJyoti Group and Honda. Partners of the YESW2018 included the Society of Economic Journalists Nepal, ACT 360, Radisson Hotel and Business 360. Silver sponsors were Panchakanya Group, MeroJob.com, Frost & Sullivan iGLOW, Fortune Edible oils and Food, Kaffeine and I Cappital.