YES National Finals

Olivae, along with their teacher Naomi Chapman and hundreds of other students and their supporters attended the Young Enterprise Scheme National Awards 2022 at Te Papa in Wellington. Although not up for a national award Olivae were treated to an amazing experience and were able to join in the celebration of their counterparts fromacross the motu and be inspired by what was achieved. As year 12 students Olivae intend to carry on their business next year, attending the awards will put themin good stead to have another crack at the top placings next year.

4,687 secondary school students participated in The Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme in 2022, setting up over 1,000 companies between them. The awards night celebrated 28 of these companies, and

Sole Haircare was crowned National YESCompany of the Year, the students fromOtago Girls’ High School were awarded The Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) Company of the Year for their business Sole. The company was awarded $3000, as well as a $5000 scholarship for each company member to the Massey University Business School. Their school was awarded $2,000.

Sole produced a unique all-natural colour matching dry shampoo in two tones (light and dark) which enhances sun protection to the scalp. Judges were impressed with their well-rehearsed pitch and their success in marketing their product through social media, in particular, their incredible reach on TikTok.

Second place was Upcycled Plastics who have built and developed their own large-scale production line that can recycle used plastic into a wide array of products. The company has recycled 160kg of plastic to date, which is over 3,500 milk bottles. The company was awarded $2000, as well as an additional $2000 for their school.

Sky’s Surf School fromKerikeri High School came third. Founded in early 2021 by sole trader Eva-SkyGundry, Sky's Surf School was created to deliver innovative female specific surf lessons to wahine in Northland with the aimof utilizing the ocean to create a community of females who grow to feel confident and empowered both in - and out of the water.

Among the judges for the competition were Phil Muir – YESBoard Chair, Rachel Taulelei - Co-Founder of Oho, SaumP. Vahdat

Managing Partner at Bridgewest Ventures, Scott Dalziel – Chief Operating Officer at HSBC, Leighton Roberts

Co-Founder of Sharesies, Suze Strowger – Kaitohu ā Motu-Te Tuarongo at Ministry of Education, and Jackie Lloyd – Trustee at The Lion Foundation, who were blown away the calibre of pitches from the competing teams.

This event was the culmination of the companies’ business year. Over the past year these students have created and run their own businesses right fromconception through to production, marketing and sales. The programme gives students an authentic learning experience that prepares themfor life after schooling by teaching entrepreneurship and connecting themwith the business community. To see all of the winning teams Click Here