Friends of Young Enterprise Northern Ireland
Board Members and supporters of Friends of Young Enterprise Northern Ireland (FYENI) discuss priorities for 2026 over breakfast with Joseph P. Kennedy III, the former Special Envoy to Northern Ireland in the Biden Administration.
Young Enterprise Northern Ireland (YENI) is a leading enterprise and financial education charity dedicated to preparing young people for the changing world of work. Despite a serious cut in funding by the UK’s education department in 2023, YENI continues to persevere and overcome all obstacles to produce quality programming for the young entrepreneurs of the community. Their “Business Backers” program has become a critical partner to carrying out the organization’s goals.
Since its founding, YENI has continuously expanded its curriculum. Originally heavily focused on the flagship "Company Programme"—where high school students create and run a real business over an academic year—the charity has broadened its scope. Today, it provides early-stage financial literacy in primary schools and complex entrepreneurship training for young adults up to age 25, integrating into Northern Ireland's broader economic and educational strategies. It has been our absolute pleasure to have supported the organization over the past10 years.
Friends of Young Enterprise Northern Ireland Foundation (FYENI) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization here in the United States to support education for young people seeking to be entrepreneurs. The organization has been extremely active throughout the U.S. to support exchange and development programming and over the period of the past several years student entrepreneurs have visited New York and Boston to meet with area business people and organizations supporting young entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurs from Young Enterprise Northern Ireland met with US/Dublin entrepreneur Ciaran Hynes (center) of Cosimo Digital in Boston in 2022.
FYENI develops cross border business ties and deep engagement with the entrepreneurial community in the United States to help create a vibrant, supportive environment of aspiring entrepreneurs and connect with leading business networks, legacy builders, and the business start up ecosystem in America. The foundation aims to raise over $250,000 annually through philanthropic support which would amount to serving over 1000 young people each year with potentially life saving opportunities.
In 2024 an impressive group of students from the Good Friday generation visited Boston and New York led by then FYENI Board President Leon Gibson who is a graduate of the program and founded several of his own businesses between the ages of 18-21. He is pictured above (right side picture) with board member Dan Delaney of The Delaney Policy Group in Boston and the charity’s attorney Sean Moynihan.
Invest Northern Ireland and Niamh Shuman hosted a coffee for the entrepreneurs in Boston (left sided picture above)
See their profiles and innovative company links below:
Dr. Pragya Sharma - Founder of Granlab (steroid free dermatological solutions)
Jordan Graham - Founder of Sugar Snap (hospitality sector marketing agency)
Ellen Yates - Founder of Taylor Yates (sustainable luxury fashion)
Peter Gileece - Founder of Vikela Armour (body armor solutions - 3D printing manufacturer)
Maebh Reynolds - Founder of GoPluggable (Airbnb for private electric vehicle chargers)
For more information and/or to speak to someone about FYENI’s current efforts in the United States, please reach out to current Board President Ciaran Sheehan at ciaran@entrepreneurs-ni.com or call him on +44 7801 675363
More information on FYENI can be found HERE