Issue link: http://endeavor.uberflip.com/i/1328680
LETTER FROM LINDA For more than two decades, Endeavor's network has gathered multiple times a year, in rotating countries, for our International Selection Panels (ISPs). e final step of our selection process, the ISP convenes a rigorously vetted group of high-impact entrepreneurs from across the world for three intense days of interviews and feedback. On the final day, panelists — drawn from our expert network of mentors and board members — vote unanimously to select the newest class of Endeavor Entrepreneurs (EEs). In February 2020, I'd just returned from our first ISP of the year in Riyadh — we'd held interviews in Saudi Arabia's first co-ed movie theater — when I received an email from our Italian team. Subject line: Coronavirus Situation. As organizations everywhere began postponing and canceling events, it became clear we would need a new game plan for the next ISP in Brooklyn, just weeks away. Endeavor Founding Board Member Jason Green, an investor in Zoom, suggested we learn the new "breakout rooms" feature Zoom's executive team had been testing. A Zoom ISP? In our 23-year history, we'd never canceled, or altered, a single in-person event — not for MERS, SARS, swine flu, currency devaluations, political upheaval, the Arab Spring, or even 9/11. ISPs are the heart and soul of Endeavor's model, where the "Magic of Endeavor" comes to life. I was terrified: What if we lost that magic? We decided to beta test a Virtual ISP. And here's what happened: On the night of the original Brooklyn ISP in March, we hosted a virtual cocktail party. We asked participants from 15 countries — and nearly as many time zones — to bring a local drink and share a story about it to break the ice. A Mexican entrepreneur brought home-distilled tequila; an Italian panelist brought wine from a neighboring vineyard; while Vietnamese cofounders sipped local coffee (it was 7 am in Saigon). Twelve hours later, our team watched in awe as deeply intense, intimate, focused conversations took place among all-star panelists and candidates. Later that day, I moderated one of the most thoughtful and passionate panel deliberations in Endeavor's history. Over Zoom! From March to December, we held 1 0 V I R T UA L I S P S and selected 8 2 I N S P I R I N G N E W E N D E AVO R E N T R E P R E N E U R S , F O R A T O TA L O F 1 0 5 N E W E E S I N 2 02 0 including those selected in Riyadh (You' ll meet some of them in the following pages!). We also increased panelist diversity: 20% of vISP panelists were our own Endeavor Entrepreneurs paying it forward, 23% were women, and 44% were non-white. So, what have we learned in this tumultuous year? We learned that Endeavor's mission to lead the global high-impact entrepreneurship movement has never been more urgent. LETTER FROM LINDA