Credit: JEL

The association Jonk Entrepreneuren Luxembourg (JEL) organised its "Annual Reception" on Thursday 21 March 2019 at the premises of its partner, the Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL).

A large number of guests from the world of economics and the world of education attended the event, which reflected on the association's successes over the pass year.

On this occasion, Stéphanie Damgé, director of the non-profit organisation, presented the evolution of the projects of the year 2018 and stressed the importance of entrepreneurial education: "We must stimulate an entrepreneurial mentality with young people and give them the tools that will enable them to develop their skills and become entrepreneurs of their life".

For his part, Hugues Delcourt, CEO and Managing Director of BIL, reiterated the bank's desire to support the non-profit organisation and its mission to change the mentality of young people, in line with BIL's wish to support young people and their innovative projects.

Gianluca Marinelli and Alessio Weber presented their Start-Up Sovi Solutions and their journey since their victory at the Young Enterprise project organised by the association. The Start-Up has developed Talkii, a digital application that replaces paper pictograms with a digital version to help people with autism communicate.

Lex Delles, Minister of the Middle Classes, similarly emphasised the importance of Jonk Entrepreneuren's programmes. As a former teacher, the minister spoke from experience of the impact that a person from the economic world can have on students' choices. Attendees thus agreed that it is essential to develop these exchanges because they bring knowledge that cannot be transmitted by teaching staff alone. In addition, the new mission of the association, which consists of taking over the supervision of entrepreneurial schools, will develop the link between the world of education and the economic and social world. The objectives are to promote the entrepreneurship of young people, to develop transversal skills and soft skills, allowing them to meet economic and social challenges.

Finally, Michel Logeling, Jonk Entrepreneuren Alumni Luxembourg, presented the objectives of the Alumni Committee and the activities organised in 2018, such as the Blockchain conference with Laurent Kratz. Currently 160 students have enrolled in the Alumni group, which is open to participants of the association's programmes.