Highlights from the Young Professional Internships Program (YPIP) Accelerator Workshop Series 🚀

As part of the YPIP framework, from November 17 to 25, American Councils held regional entrepreneurship workshops and an Alumni Accelerator program across Uzbekistan.

🌍 Regional Workshop Series
One-day workshops in Urgench, Karshi, Bukhara, and Fergana brought together 70 undergraduate students to explore essential entrepreneurial skills through an interactive, U.S.-style format. The sessions were led by U.S. innovation experts Marty Kaszubowski and Sharon Scannell. Participants learned to identify real problems, build customer personas, apply the NABC model, practice customer discovery, and map ideas onto the Pitch Canvas. Students left with practical tools and a clearer understanding of how to shape their ideas into real solutions.

⭐️ YPIP Alumni Accelerator
On November 22–23, 52 alumni from four cohorts gathered in the Tashkent Region for a two-day advanced accelerator led by Sharon Scannell. Alumni refined their business ideas using the NABC model, Value Thesis, Business Model Canvas, and Pitch Canvas. They strengthened their problem statements, improved customer insights, practiced interviews, and gained confidence pitching their ideas. The program also provided valuable networking and peer collaboration opportunities.

📌 The entrepreneurship accelerator trainings were held within the framework of the Young Professional Internships Program, funded by the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent and implemented by American Councils for International Education.