I just returned from Lyon, France to participate in my first International Board of Advisors meeting for the World Entrepreneurship Forum. It was a productive gathering! At this time, I wish to report out on the many new initiatives launched by the three-year-old World Entrepreneurship Forum.

Let's start with identifying the "who's who" on the newly appointed IBOA and work our way through four other fabulous creations that are taking place within the Forum:

1. International Board of Advisors for the World Entrepreneurship Forum

Pictured above from left to right: Yves-Henri Robillard, Director of the World Entrepreneurship Forum; Harold Celms, Director of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia in France; Geneviève Morand, Founder, Rezonance, Switzerland ; Jack Sim, Founder, World Toilet Organization, Singapore; Jean-Luc Decornoy, Chairman of the Board of KPMG S.A., France; Patrick Molle, President of EMLYON Business School, France; Zoltan Acs, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Public Policy, George Mason University, USA; Laurel Delaney, Founder, GlobeTrade, U.S.A.; Agarwal Nikhil, Director, Europe Asia Business School (EABS), India; Steve Strauss, Founder, MrAllBiz, U.S.A.

Not pictured (Board members who were unable to attend meeting): Inderjit Singh, member of Parliament of Singapore, Nyokabi Njuguna, Founder & CEO, Marketing Strategies & Solutions, Kenya and Kah Walla, Founder & Director, Strategies, Cameroon.

2. New logo -- new identity for the World Entrepreneurship Forum

We are delighted to unveil our new look (as shown above) that reflects a contemporary, clean and crisp design -- in line with our international reputation.

Here's the back story on what the logo symbolizes: The two crossed rings, symbols of the two faces of the earth, illustrate the global reach and strong dualities that give soul to the World Entrepreneurship Forum: Wealth & Social justice, Economic & Social, Sharing & Meeting. The new identity will serve numerous purposes for the World Entrepreneurship Forum. Watch for the many different facets of the logo as we launch a plethora of new initiatives.

Note: If you click on the Board photo, you will see that we did a good job conveying our new logo with our pose -- all interconnected through our arms (linkage) and our hands!

3. Creation of the first "World Entrepreneurship Centres"

Argentina and Singapore are the first countries where regional chapters of the World Entrepreneurship Forum will be created. These chapters, directed locally by members of the think tank, will gather throughout the year with local entrepreneurs and decision-makers who will debate global issues relative to their vision and experience of the local reality. These centres will be identification branches, observe best practices and will feed the debates carried out on a global level.

4. Publication of White Paper, synthesis of the conclusions of the 2009 edition of the World Entrepreneurship Forum

This first White Paper, “How can governments support the development of the entrepreneurship?," is the official synthesis of the 2nd edition of the World Entrepreneurship Forum which was held in Lyon in November 2009 and gathered together 80 personalities of 40 different countries, selected for their entrepreneurial success and their contribution to the society. The White Paper will be distributed globally to entrepreneurs, governments, decision-makers and media in order to promote policies to support types of entrepreneurship that gave results in various countries.

To access the White Paper, please visit: http://www.world-entrepreneurship-forum.com

5. Five Junior Forums in 2010

The Junior Forums, organized from June 28-July 2, aim at preparing the exchanges of the World Entrepreneurship Forum. These Junior Forums are organized by and for students, the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. Five countries will organize Junior Forums in 2010: China (Shanghai), Singapore, India (Pune, the biggest student city in the country), Morocco, and France (Lyon). The organizing students will invite personalities from the field of entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, from governments and the academic world to exchange ideas on the topics of the World Entrepreneurship Forum, and share their own recommendations.

The third edition of the World Entrepreneurship Forum will be held in Lyon, France from November 3-6, 2010. Its main theme will be: “Creating and developing high growth companies." Watch for more information about this program coming soon here at our blog.

Note: Full disclosure, Laurel Delaney serves on the International Board of Advisors for the World Entrepreneurship Forum.

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

A view of Lyon, France while attending the World Entrepreneurship Forum.

Posted by: Laurel Delaney, The Global Small Business Blog.

Photo credit (click on pictures to enlarge): Pierto, Sipa Press

In follow up to the World Entrepreneurship Forum, Business Reporter Laura Noonan, from The Irish Independent, provides her perspective on the Forum.

Read the article here.

About the World Entrepreneurship Forum

Founded at the initiative of EMLYON Business School and KPMG, the World Entrepreneurship Forum benefits from the high patronage of Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic. It is the first worldwide think tank dedicated to entrepreneurs, creators of wealth and social justice. It gathers annually more than 100 members of over 40 different nationalities.

For more information: www.world-entrepreneurship-forum.com.

Full disclosure: Laurel Delaney (quoted in article) is a member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum.

Pictured: Patrick Molle, President, EMLYON Business School

Photo credit: Pierto, Sipa Press

The above photo (click on to enlarge) is taken outside of the EMLYON Business School in Lyon, France during the 2nd edition of the World Entrepreneurship Forum.

Our goal at the Forum was to promote a type of entrepreneurship that creates wealth and social justice on a global scale by building on the backgrounds and experiences of members represented from more than 40 countries!

Based on the nine recommendations from last year, we focused on the role public authorities can -- and sometimes should -- play in developing entrepreneurship. Our target was to deliver three key proposals at the end of the Forum (which we did) and I will report on that shortly.

About the World Entrepreneurship Forum

Founded at the initiative of EMLYON Business School and KPMG, the World Entrepreneurship Forum benefits from the high patronage of Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic. It is the first worldwide think tank dedicated to entrepreneurs, creators of wealth and social justice. It gathers annually more than 100 members of over 40 different nationalities.

For more information: www.world-entrepreneurship-forum.com.

Photo credit: Pierto, Sipa Press

I had the great honor and opportunity to listen to Minister Lee Yi Shyan (pictured), the State Minister of Trade and Industry, in charge of Entrepreneurship, Singapore talk about Singapore's strategy on entrepreneurship development.

Here are twenty (20) highlights:

1. How can government be a part of entrepreneurship (big question he was faced with)?

2. Ten percent (10%) of all businesses in Singapore are small businesses.

3. World Bank named Singapore the easiest place to do business.

4. Businesses in Singapore can no longer compete on the basis of low-cost pricing.

5. Projected growth for Singapore is 2-5 percent.

6. After a recession year, Singapore always bounces back.

7. Singapore involves the private sector to encourage and develop entrepreneurship.

8. They set up structures and the environment for entrepreneurship to thrive.

9. They also set up an action committee for entrepreneurs.

10. They set up a PRO enterprise panel to cut red tape and reduce regulatory burden; they seek and act on suggestions by the public.

11. Private equity platform; access to private equity financing (for those companies with high growth potential); micro-loan program -- up to $5 million dollars.

12. State Minister gave an analogy of how a tree grows in 10 years whereas a person takes a century.

13. Will check into his comment about a BlueSKY Festival which encourages SMBs to try out entrepreneurship and reach for their dreams.

14. Has a YES! School which helps schools develop entrepreneurship programs (ten percent of Singapore's schools reach 1,000 students).

15. Eighty-four percent (84%) of people would NOT give up business for better job!

16. There were 50,000 start-ups in 2009.

17. Launched a IES (International Enterprise Singapore) program.

18. Considered most innovative nation according to International Innovation Index.

19. Moving ahead: Innovators, Entrepreneurs, Scientists and Venture Capitalists = dollars + knowledge + market connections.

20. They participated in Global Entrepreneurship Week (this week) with 40 different programs.

Based on Minister Lee Yi Shyan's comments along with his high spirit, it is easy to understand why Singapore is flourishing with entrepreneurs!

Photo credit: Pierto, Sipa Press

Arrived in France for the World Entrepreneurship Forum where there are already fabulous exchanges between members of so many different backgrounds.

Enjoying the experience immensely. Follow my Tweets @Laurel Delaney or twitter.com/LaurelDelaney.

Photo credit: Pierto, Sipa Press (Laurel Delaney center)

On my way to the World Entrepreneurship Forum in Lyon, France (November 18-21) and our 2009 main topic is:

How can governments, at all levels, support the development of entrepreneurship?

We will also review the nine (9) recommendations we proposed during our 2008 Forum, aimed at enabling and fostering the development of the various forms of entrepreneurship. They are as follows:

World Entrepreneurship Forum Guiding Principles

1. Reform Regulations

To promote a truly entrepreneurship-centered business climate, reform tax and regulatory environments so as to make it easier, faster, and less costly for entrepreneurs to set up enterprises, grow them if they are successful, or close them if not; minimize the time they spend on licenses, tax procedures, litigation and other similar activities.

2. Create New “Entrepreneur-Friendly” Institutions

Introduce new-style entrepreneurship-friendly support institutions that provide technological knowledge, market information, business know-how, certification services, access to capital, and other essential business support.

3. Promote Proper Governance

Set forth a governance framework which unambiguously encourages risk-taking, while also ensuring that ethics lapses, corruption, and neglect of environmental sustainability carry a high cost to reputation.

4. Foster Positive Entrepreneurial Attitudes

Foster a cultural context where entrepreneurship has a positive image and where entrepreneurial success is publicly celebrated.

5. Create an Early Education Entrepreneurial Curricula

Include within schools a curricula that promotes the development of the skills and attitudes that are the hallmark of entrepreneurship, such as: Creating a vision, perseverance, creativity, spotting needs, empathy, leadership, dealing with ambiguity, risk-taking, and follow-through.

6. Develop Young Adult Entrepreneurial Curricula

Include within an education curricula practical elements of entrepreneurship and business development so as to increase the entrepreneurial IQ within the community.

7. Promote Lifelong Entrepreneurial Education

Provide entrepreneurs lifelong learning and development platforms for sharing of experience and best practices, coaching and mentoring, mutual support, and international networking, with the strong support of key stakeholders from business and civil society.

8. Empower Entrepreneurial Women, Minorities and the Disadvantaged

Support programs must also specifically target women, minorities, and the disadvantaged. Further, governments should implement laws and policies that ensure that entrepreneurs are sensitive to gender empowerment as well as diversity promotion.

9. Understand Entrepreneurship

Make it known that entrepreneurs are positive agents of social change, wealth creation, transparency, sustainability, and innovation.

Formal Guiding Principles can be found here.

I hope to have a chance to report out to you while in France but if I get too busy, which is very likely, I will wait until after I return to provide you with key takeaways. However, in the meantime, catch a LIVE broadcast of key moments here (http://www.world-entrepreneurship-forum.com).

By the way ... here's why I am a member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum.

Photo: World Entrepreneurship Forum -- members in 2008.

The World Entrepreneurship Forum’s “Entrepreneur for the World” Award, Politician category, has been exceptionally granted during a conference held on October 20, 2009 hosted by EMLYON Business School (Lyon, France). And the winner is Mary Robinson!

From the press release:

Mrs Robinson's passion and faith left the audience capitivated and charmed. In her speech to more than 600 EMLYON students, Mrs Robinson highlighted that “The world needs leadership and especially leadership of values” saluting our School mission statement "educating entrepreneurs for the world" that gives sense to any action and project at EMLYON Business School.

Patrick Molle, President of EMLYON Business School, and Jean-Luc Decornoy, Chairman of KPMG SA, presented the Award to Ms. Robinson in the presence of the official partners of the World Entrepreneurship Forum (full disclosure: I am a member).

The broadcast of the conference will be on the World Entrepreneurship Forum’s website: (http://www.world-entrepreneurship-forum.com) as a video shortly.

The "Entrepreneur for the World" Awards are granted to emblematic international personalities, in recognition of their actions in favor of entrepreneurship and social justice.

There are four different award categories: Entrepreneur, Social Entrepreneur, Politician and Academic Expert. The names of the award-winners are being held secret until the Award Ceremony which will be held on November 19, 2009 during the 2009 World Entrepreneurship Forum (full disclosure: I am attending).

The "Entrepreneur for the World" Awards have been initiated during the 2008, and first edition of the World Entrepreneurship Forum, when all its members freely voted for each one of the four categories. The vote was secret. A biographical research has been conducted by the World Entrepreneurship Forum committee to ensure that nominated personalities are in line with the World Entrepreneurship Forum ethics and values of entrepreneurship, social justice and international exposure.

The final Jury was held in Lyon, on April 1st, 2009, composed of 15 personalities of 6 different nationalities.

More information about the World Entrepreneurship Forum can be found here. Guiding Principals which enable and foster the various forms of entrepreneurship can be found here.

Can our world problems be solved by global entrepreneurs? I'd like to think "yes." The dean of EMLYON Business School, in Lyon, France explains the importance of entrepreneurial leaders and the 10 pitfalls they must avoid.

Read all about it here.

Full disclosure: The reference to the World Entrepreneurship Forum at EM Lyon is the forum I attended in November where I had the great pleasure to meet Johan Stael von Holstein, founder of the global business incubator, IQUBE.

Despite the economic crisis, international education remains strong. At EM Lyon Business School (home of the World Entrepreneurship Forum that I attended last month) in France where they claim to educate entrepreneurs for the world, dean Patrice Houdayer, says:

... the school's global and entrepreneurial focus will help grads of one of Europe's oldest business schools succeed, even in a tough economy.

Houdayer's prediction for growth areas?

Students who will go from the (U.S.) and Europe to Asia and Africa. I think Asia, Africa and South America will be a target for the next generation to take their second or third job because the growth is there.

Read more here:

After participating in The World Entrepreneurship Forum from November 13-15th in Evian, France, founded by EMLYON Business School (EMLYON Business School English), the leading European business school in Entrepreneurship, and KPMG FR (KPMG USA arm), the leading tax, audit and advisory services company, and global leader in entrepreneurship education Babson College (Boston, USA) who just joined the two founding partners in the organization of the event -- I have come to realize and totally be in awe that global entrepreneurship is very much alive and more at work than ever. Further, we have far more similarities than differences in our passion for building businesses regardless of whether one lives in U.S.A, Indonesia or The Republic of Cameroon (bordered by Nigeria).

Passion -- not necessarily profit (for example, if you love what you do, the money (profits) will follow at some point ... nearly everyone felt that way ... but you cannot sustain the growth of your business, especially during rough patches, without passion first) -- is the key to successful global entrepreneurial development and it ran deep (soulfully might be a better choice of words) within each of the 80 selected personalities representing 35 nationalities and segmented into four distinct profiles who each have an entrepreneurial role in society: entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, politicians, and experts. I was placed in the Entrepreneur category under The Free Market Economy (one of three ethos*). The picture above shows all members and was taken on the grounds of the Evian Royal Resort overlooking Lake Geneva and facing the Alps.

Here's a look at the agenda we covered for the two and one-half days but before I share that, here's the definition of entrepreneur according to the World Entrepreneurship Forum:

"The entrepreneur, creator of wealth and social justice."

Does that sound like you? If so, let us hear from you! And two questions that arose from that statement:

1. What is the best way of creating wealth?
2. What is the best way of creating social justice?

And here's a glimpse at the founder's vision:

"The future depends on entrepreneurs. They play a pivotal role when confronting the business and societal challenges we face today and in the future. Creators of value, promotors of values, they will actively contribute to the advancement of global social justice." ~ EMLYON Business School - KPMG, Founders of the World Entrepreneurship Forum

Now, to the agenda.

Day One

• The Entrepreneur, a key actor in the face of our world challenges.
• The many faces of the entrepreneur: introduction to the three ethos* (coordinated market economy, free market economy and the network-based economy) influencing entrepreneurs' behaviors.
• Topics, methodology and expected outcomes of the Forum.
• Key success factors for entrepreneurs across the three ethos (in other words, the character or ideals of a community of people).

Day Two

Morning

• Breakfasts segmented by Profiles (Entrepreneurs, Social Entrepreneurs, Experts and Politicians): Sharing and exchanging challenges and issues each profile faces in their respective business environment.

Early afternoon

The overall encompassing purpose was to formulate recommendations, develop content and format of future entrepreneurship education programs and issue proposals to have entrepreneurs behave fairly toward society

• Creating entrepreneurship-friendly business environments.
• Educating the next generation of entrepreneurs.
• Advancing the social commitment of entrepreneurs.

Late afternoon

• Facilitated discussion on the above three bullets.

Late evening

• Gathering to articulate the vision, mission and goals of the World Entrepreneurship Forum; liberation of the first conclusions drawn from the World Entrepreneurship Forum; and, announcement of the "Entrepreneur for the World" award (will tell you who won later).

Day Three (1/2 day)

• Feedback from the workshops and discussed conclusions from the previous two days of learning and sharing. Then we brainstormed about the Forum's impact and future (which included collectively formulating twelve recommendations to promote entrepreneurship worldwide) and went on to vote for "Entrepreneur for the World" 2009 award.

*More detail about this in a subsequent post.

I will report takeaways and highlight some of the members I met (a few are readers of our blog!) over the coming weeks for my notes are a mile long. Right now, I wanted to merely set the stage for what is yet to come. In between now and then, catch a different perspective on the Forum from two great media moguls Steven Strauss and Rieva Lesonsky who both participated at the conference. And catch Karen Kerrigan's report here.

More global entrepreneurial magic to follow. Stay tuned.

I plan to report on the World Entrepreneurship Forum (see all the coverage already up on it ... pictures ... videos) in a blog post either Sunday or Monday. Still in France and have been overwhelmed by the amount of collective genius shared by all the participants at the Forum but there has been absolutely no time to blog.

Much to write about but need substantial quality time to produce it. Look forward to providing my perspective on the Forum shortly.

Preparing to attend the World Entrepreneurship Forum in Evian France from November 13-15. Read more about it here.

Blogging will be sporadic but I will do my best to report out. Eager to learn and share the different views of the world on global entrepreneurship and how it has become an economic and social force.

I am honored to have been chosen to participate in the World Entrepreneurship Forum 2008 (world-entrepreneurship-forum.com/) under the high patronage of Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France and to be held in Evian, France from November 13-15.

The World Entrepreneurship Forum is the first worldwide think-tank dedicated to entrepreneurship and its role in society. With what's going on in the world, we need this more than ever right now!

The forum brings together more than 70 participants of the highest level: entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, political decision-makers and international experts.

Central theme: "Entrepreneurship as a creator of economic wealth and social justice," resulting in the definition of concrete recommendations in response to three questions: