Truman National Security Project

Google has launched a new global initiative – Google for Entrepreneurs. It’s quite inspiring. Here’s a taste of their work:

• Google London houses a 7-story building full of work space and meeting rooms for upstart and forming companies.
• The Tel Aviv office hosts hackathons with Israeli and Palestinian youth.
• ‘Women Entrepreneurs on the Web’ provides opportunities for females to get their businesses on the web, network with colleagues, and share lessons learned.

Check out this video — awesome. 

I recently attended a Google for Entrepreneurs event entitled ‘Inspiring [Millennial] Entrepreneurs’, with the affiliate #inspire20to30. As I happen to be in the 20-to-30 camp, and aspire to start my own company, this event was a natural fit.

I cannot even begin to describe the pride I felt by watching my generation talk about building their own businesses from scratch, learning lessons the hard way, hiring the right team members, motivating their employees, and ensuring their customer base was kept happy. Hats off to Google for a great event.

The one recommendation I’d make to anyone planning a Millennial-focused event is to encourage an audience/panel discussion, because more often than not, audience members will provide questions that enhance the conversation. Plus, audience participation will increase the level of excitement in the room. Nobody wants a boring event.

After hearing the panelists talk about why they started their own companies (passion) and how they did it (drive, tenacity, wills of steel), they then spoke about some of their challenges.

• What was the one challenge faced by each of these Millennial entrepreneurs? Finding the right employees and keeping them inspired.

• What was my burning question? Why don’t you inspire your employees with cause?

Almost all of us want our work to connect to cause. In the corporate world, 80% of Millennials want to work for a company that takes care of how it impacts society.

Here’s how you will make us proud to work for you:

• Give us work that matters. Show how our day-to-day relates to the organization’s core ideals. Illustrate how you need us to make your cause goals a reality.

• Be responsible. Explain how organizational values tie in with cause, and encourage employees to discover their own causes. Showcase your responsible commitments and be sure to share key accomplishments in bite-sized pieces.

• Offer a whole host of cause options. Everyone has their own cause—give employees the tools to support their passions through volunteering opportunities, giving campaigns, donation contests, and more.

Allison McGuire, a Truman Partner, is the Partnerships Program Associate at Network for Good. You can find her on Twitter @CaliMcG and read more of her posts at CompaniesforGood.org.