Making Our Way Forward

Global Entrepreneurship Week is a collection of activities, competitions and events in over 170 counties each year in November. The aim of the week is to make entrepreneurship more accessible for everyone through exposure to resources and connections in order to build and grow entrepreneurial communities. NACCE is excited to partner with the Global Entrepreneurship Week to invite entrepreneurs all over the world to consider how they can come together and provide solutions for making our world more inclusive, just and equitable.  

Many entrepreneurs who have heeded the call to become agents of change are drawing inspiration from the Maker Movement. The open-minded and investigative characteristics inherent in the entrepreneurial mindset stem from tapping into one’s passions, and passion development is key to keeping entrepreneurs engaged and fulfilled from their work. Making and maker-centered learning environments are tangible and realistic ways to provide the necessary space for people to realize their passions and gain a sense of agency in their work and abilities.

Making connects seamlessly with the development of the entrepreneurial mindset due to its ability to foster self-efficacy. Through making, entrepreneurs bring themselves, their backgrounds, and their ideas, and utilize their space to pave their own path. Along this journey, ways to address the disruptions and challenges that we see emerging as societies become increasingly polarized are inherently sought out. The Maker Movement honors passion, creativity, and the ability of human beings to solve problems through self-paced discovery and collaborative innovation. The Movement also encourages the normalization of setbacks as a part of the discovery process, allowing a solution to be borne by an expanding web of connections rather than a linear path. The spirit of making, in conjunction with entrepreneurial mindset, can transform the communities we live in regardless of locale.

The world needs entrepreneurs – especially social and civic entrepreneurs – to come together and find ways to heal the many wounds experienced by many nations. NACCE is joining with GEW to invite entrepreneurs to tap into the spirit of making and employ the entrepreneurial mindset to heal our world from systems of exclusion and create healing zones that supports community health, economic vitality and racial and ethnic healing through our signature activity Making Our Way Forward. Participants who engage in this activity will utilize and strengthen their collaborative and design thinking skills to design a healing zone prototype for their community, with a special emphasis on populations who have been historically excluded from economic activity. Healing zones are communities, organizations, and networks committed to building infrastructure (processes, policies, practices, programs, and pedagogies) that promote and supports racial and ethnic healing, economic inclusion and reconciliation, and educational equity. The curators of GEW and NACCE acknowledge that diversity is a driver of innovation and that all communities suffer if anyone or any one community faces a structural barriers or is excluded from the entrepreneurial ecosystems.

We understand that there are positive correlations between community health, economic vitality, and racial and ethnic healing. Encouragement of entrepreneurial mindsets within a community enables innovation and a stronger economy. We encourage you to find ways to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, and to incorporate Making Our Way Forward, NACCE’s global entrepreneurship signature activity, into your celebration.