YES celebrates 40th birthday

The student-focused Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) is celebrating 40 years of helping young Kiwis become business leaders of tomorrow, and new research shows there has been a measurable social return on investment.

YES, a charity whose alumni have gone on to start up hugely successful companies such as Sharesies, Xero and Kiwibank, has released its Goodmeasure report. It reveals the significant social value YES programmes have achieved for more than 5000 students in the past year alone.

The report shows the social value (the social impact in dollar terms that a programme achieves for participants over their lifetime) is $2,753 for each participant. At a programme cost of $432 per participant the measurable benefit as a proportion of programme cost is 580 percent.

Every $1 invested in YES results in $5.80 of measurable social return on investment, quantifying the overall social value at $17,965,183 for the 2021/22 financial year.

YES engages with students in 85 percent of New Zealand secondary schools through a range of programmes and classroom resources and aims to tap into their entrepreneurial mindset by providing them with necessary tools to become effective business leaders and entrepreneurs.

YES chief excitement officer Terry Shubkin says they’ve always known that YES helps young people foster an entrepreneurial mindset so they can go on to become founders and world-ready. “But in addition, this report has also shown that

YES participants have a reduced likelihood of risky behaviour and addiction, increased specialised skills, improved mental health, and increased academic achievement.”

Nick Hyland, YES alumni and cofounder of electric scooter and bike share company Flamingo Scooters, says YES provided him a platform to test his ideas, learn from his mistakes, and grow both personally and professionally, while creating many opportunities and connections for him straight out of high school.

YES has helped more than 150,000 students since its inception and continues its ongoing focus on diversifying its programmes to ensure they are accessible, inclusive and valuable to all students.