FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK /

Dear YES Family,

On March 15, 2012 we organize our first YouthTrade Summit at the New England Research and Development Center (NERD) where young entrepreneurs or their representatives will showcase their products and learn how to become a vendor for Whole Foods Market North Atlantic Region. On May 21, 2012, the products selected by the Whole Foods Market purchasing team will get a unified launch at all the 22 North Atlantic stores with great fan-fare.

Our deep gratitude to Kimberly Rose, Vice President, North Atlantic Region; Purchasing, Merchandising & Distribution at Whole Foods Market, North Atlantic Region for her commitment to youth and entrepreneurship and her faith in YouthTrade to generate a new market for goods and services to accelerate the businesses of young entrepreneurs.

YouthTrade is a new signature initiative YES in partnership with Conscious Capitalism Institute and it aims to create a new architecture for fulfillment of our goal for generating young conscious entrepreneurs seeped in the values of Conscious Capitalism

YouthTrade™ is built on a simple yet big idea- providing markets for goods of young entrepreneurs under the age of 35, born out of a simple question of how to align conscious companies with conscious entrepreneurs.

YOUTHTRADE 101 /

Three interlinked stakeholders:

1. The Supplier: A young American entrepreneur (under 35) who joins as a member of YouthTrade and receives certification of their products - the YouthTrade Entrepreneur.

2. The Retailer: A retailer such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe's etc who commits to placing YouthTrade certified products on their shelves- the YouthTrade Retailer.

3. The Consumer: a buyer who commits to buying YouthTrade products as a small percentage of their regular purchases - theYouthTrade Consumer.

Fully looped strategy: Is to ensure that Entrepreneurs' products (for example Runa tea) finds a Retailer (Whole Foods Market) for selling their product, and the Retailer (Whole Foods Market) gets a consumer (any one of us) to buy that product.

In addition to building the demand side, the team will launch an extensive social media campaign to promote YouthTrade entrepreneurs and YouthTrade retailers - we hope to set up YouthTrade chapters in universities and other outlets to create buzz and a new way to do business. We are at a defining moment in time and the creation of a new structure brings energy and enthusiasm.

I urge you to nominate youth entrepreneurs under the age of 35 to participate in the YouthTrade Summit. The application is on-line on the YES website.
We invite you to join us on our new journey to transform the world through supporting youth entrepreneurs and their products. Let’s keep our dreams alive.

In Solidarity,

Poonam Ahluwalia
President YES.