In March 2017, the members of Youth Business International (YBI) have elected Boris Tkachenko as a member of the YBI Strategy Implementation Steering Committee. On the first meeting of the Steering Committee held in April, the Committee members have elected Boris as the first Chairman of the Committee. We believe that in this role, and being the YBI Mentoring Peer Wisdom Group member (on a pro-bono basis) Boris will work even more effectively on promotion of youth business and mentoring not just in Russia but worldwide.

Boris Tkachenko, YBR programme manager and CEO, Institute of Mentoring, was a special guest and a speaker at International Mentoring Summit 'Mentoring Grassroots Entrepreneurs in Smart Grams for Inclusive Growth' on April 4-7 in Delhi. The Summit was timed with the 25th anniversary of youth support activity of Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust's (BYST) - Youth Business International (YBI) member.

Boris Tkachenko, Youth Business Russia (YBR) project manager took part in the master class delivered by Youth Business International (YBI) on March 13-17 in Curitiba, Brazil. The master class was dedicated to comprehensive support for budding entrepreneurs with the focus on training and mentoring.

The session was organized by the Krasnodar Regional Administration and the Federal Youth Agency (Rosmolodezh).

Accenture Russia and IBLF Russia announced the launch of the joint large-scale project within Youth Business Russia (YBR).

From 8 to 11 March Youth Business International held a entrepreneur roadshow in the United Arab Emirates, culminating in the final of our Young Entrepreneur Awards

The year is drawing to a close and we would like to thank our mentors for all of their support in 2014. This newsletter Startup Direct go abroad and Vanessa Eardley shares her thoughts on mentoring.