Backed by Meshpoints, with the support of Spacecubed and Lotterywest, the Young Entrepreneurs Academy of Western Australia (YEAWA) is strengthening the foundations of entrepreneurial education across the state, not by delivering one-off student programs, but by building long-term capability within schools themselves.
YEAWA was established with a bold ambition: to help young people thrive in a rapidly changing world by developing entrepreneurial skillsets, mindsets and ambitions from an early age. But as Director Cameron Thorn explains, the pathway to achieving that vision required a strategic shift.
“We’re here to upskill educators, to empower educators to build the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”
Rather than focusing solely on direct student programming, YEAWA pivoted toward a sustainable, teacher-led model. The insight was simple but powerful: if teachers are confident and capable in delivering entrepreneurial education, students benefit year after year — regardless of staffing changes or shifting school priorities.
“We realised that if a program is tied to one teacher, it can disappear when that teacher leaves,” Cameron shared. “What we wanted to see was sustained change, building entrepreneurial capabilities across whole schools, not just in isolated classrooms.”
Today, YEAWA works with teachers from Year 4 through to Year 12, supporting them to design learning experiences that embed entrepreneurial skills across subject areas. The initiative acts as a connection point between the education system and WA’s broader innovation ecosystem, advocating for entrepreneurial education, connecting educators with industry, and empowering teachers with the tools and confidence to deliver it effectively.
Responding to a Real Need
Early engagement with educators revealed a significant capacity gap. Many teachers were passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship but lacked the practical frameworks, assessment tools and industry connections to embed it rigorously into their teaching.
“Many of these teachers are the only ones in their school doing this work,” Cameron explained. “They feel like a lonely island.”
YEAWA to respond decisively to that need by introducing a dedicated Educator in Residence role, a senior teacher with deep experience in innovation programs who could provide hands-on coaching and mentoring.
“Teachers told us, ‘We need someone who can sit with us and help us,’” Cameron said. “Schools can’t afford $5,000-a-day consultants. So we created our own version of an Entrepreneur in Residence, but for education.”
The Educator in Residence provides practical, contextualised guidance, not doing the work for teachers, but walking alongside them to build confidence, validate programs and accelerate implementation. What began as a strategic adaptation has now become a core part of the YEAWA model.
Advocate. Connect. Empower.
YEAWA’s work is structured around three pillars: Advocate, Connect and Empower.
Advocacy has focused on raising the visibility and legitimacy of entrepreneurial education across WA. This has included presenting at major education conferences, contributing to sector conversations, and sponsoring the inaugural Youth Category at the WA Innovators of the Year Awards, providing a platform to celebrate young innovators and demonstrate what entrepreneurial capability can look like in schools.
Connection has meant bringing educators together into communities of practice, while also connecting schools with WA’s innovation ecosystem. Rather than relying on hypothetical classroom challenges, YEAWA supports teachers to ground learning in real-world contexts by linking them with founders, industry and community partners.
Empowerment has centred on building teacher capability through structured professional learning, mentoring and frameworks that make entrepreneurial skills observable, teachable and assessable.
As Cameron describes it, “It’s not about knowledge, it’s about application. We can see students thinking and doing differently.”
Impact to Date
Through Meshpoints support, YEAWA has delivered meaningful and measurable impact across the state.
Direct reach includes:
Beyond these direct participants, the ripple effects extend further, through departmental networks, sector-wide communications, and the development of resources that can be adopted across WA’s school system.
One of the most significant outcomes has been the development of the YEAWA School Academy model. This formal partnership approach supports schools to embed entrepreneurial education within a rigorous framework, rather than treating it as an extracurricular add-on.
In 2026, the inaugural cohort of approximately 20 cross-sector schools will implement academy programs, each documenting a case study that can be shared and adapted by other educators statewide.
At its core, YEAWA is about future-proofing Western Australia. “These are the skills our young people need to address complex challenges,” Cameron said.
“Whether they become entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, or innovators inside organisations, we’re building future-focused capabilities that support economic diversification and long-term resilience.”
By strengthening the bridge between schools and the innovation ecosystem, YEAWA is helping to build a clearer pathway from classroom learning to real-world opportunity. The long-term vision is ambitious: to see entrepreneurial education embedded statewide, and to nurture a generation of young people who believe they can build, test and grow ideas right here in WA.
As Cameron puts it, “ultimately, we want to see the average age of people going through incubators and accelerators coming down.”
Through targeted, system-level investment in teacher capacity and school leadership, Meshpoints’ support of YEAWA is contributing to a stronger, more connected innovation ecosystem, starting with the educators shaping the next generation.
Inspired by YEAWA’s impact? Explore Meshpoints new Challenge-led approach to funding, designed to support initiatives that strengthen the visibility, confidence and connectivity of WA’s innovation ecosystem. Learn more about how it works, explore current opportunities and get ready to apply for upcoming Challenges here.