Enactus World Cup 2020, a Virtual Global Gathering of NextGen Leaders
A fully virtual Enactus World Cup 2020 took place on September 8-11 and featured the projects of 72,000 Enactus students worldwide who, despite being displaced from their campuses by COVID-19, continued their work to create positive impact through newly founded social enterprises. This annual experience features Enactus student enterprises launched to drive positive impact and provides opportunities for this next generation of leaders to have direct dialogue with esteemed global thought leaders to advance their learning and inspire their action.
“The work of Enactus nextgen leaders has always been important, but never more so than right now,” said Rachael Jarosh, President and CEO of Enactus. “This is a time for leadership, at all levels. That’s why Enactus is deeply honored to welcome so many purpose-driven leaders to Enactus World Cup 2020. Together, we are advancing awareness, leadership and work of the next generation—and inspiring greater action along the way.”
Enactus World Cup 2020 programming includes IMAGINE founder and former Unilever CEO Paul Polman; political scientist, author, and host of GZERO World, Ian Bremmer; the CEO of XPrize, Anousheh Ansari; and the founder of The Deepak Foundation, a non-profit entity for research on well-being and humanitarianism, Deepak Chopra. These esteemed panelists and business leaders addressed pressing issues including COVID-19 and the impact of the pandemic on progress toward climate change, oceans, the future of education and work, rethinking plastics and the action needed to further advance the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The event was supported by presenting sponsor (since 2012), KPMG; Enactus impact partners Ford Motor Company and the Ford Fund, and Unilever; and Enactus innovation partners Advantage Solutions, AIG, Bellisio Foods, BIC, Harmony, the John Dobson Foundation and DSM.
Enactus is the largest experiential learning platform dedicated to creating a better world while developing the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders and social innovators. A network of global business, academic and student leaders unified by a vision to create a better, more sustainable world, the organization also provides a platform for next gen leaders to develop leadership skills while working with leading companies worldwide. In 2019, Enactus projects impacted 2.9 million lives, helped launch 3,000 small businesses, eliminated 5.9 million tons of CO2, and much more.
Empire worked closely with the Enactus team to create the overall event and run of show, handled logistics for all speakers and talent, oversaw technical production and broadcast, and developed and designed the virtual venue platform.
Empire is a leading producer of virtual events; we strive to deliver the same high production value, immersive and interactive qualities we are known for in live events to virtual audiences.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
