UNGC x FWE x TRIIBE Talk: Youth Innovation for SDG Acceleration
In 2015, the global community adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a target year of 2030. Progress, however, remains significantly off track, with approximately 37 percent of targets either stagnating or regressing, underscoring the urgent need to accelerate implementation and strengthen the systems that shape future leaders, particularly education and innovation ecosystems.
Young people are central to this transformation. With 1.2 billion people aged 15 to 24 globally, they represent a major demographic force for innovation, entrepreneurship, and systems change. Yet, despite their potential, young people continue to face significant barriers to economic inclusion, with over 65 million unemployed globally and many more in informal or underemployment.
In this context, youth entrepreneurship and philentrepreneurship have become an increasingly important pathway for employment, innovation, and SDG-aligned impact. However, youth entrepreneurs, particularly student founders, continue to face structural barriers, including limited access to finance, mentorship, and institutional support systems needed to scale their ventures.
Building on the momentum of the High-Level Political Forum 2026, the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), an initiative of the UN Global Compact, together with TRIIBE and the Forum for World Education, are convening a high-level in-person side event at the Penn Club. The event will bring together stakeholders from the UN system, academia, civil society, students, and the private sector, alongside young innovators and entrepreneurs.
The high-level convening will focus on the future of education and youth leadership development with a strong emphasis on intergenerational dialogue between youth leaders, educators, and senior executives on how to better align systems for scalable impact.
The objective of the side event is to showcase successful models, facilitate cross-sector and intergenerational dialogue, and foster actionable collaboration to strengthen youth, student, and education-driven innovation ecosystems globally.