The Junior Economic Chamber of Monaco (JCI) has outlined its plans for 2026, including new initiatives for students and changes to existing programmes.
Lucas Dubois, appointed President of JCI for 2026, explained the changes at a press conference on Thursday January 29th alongside Vice-President for Entrepreneurship Julien Vivarelli and Vice-President for Attractivity Luxmaan Sellappah.
The main addition is Monaco Junior Impact, a new student entrepreneurship programme launching this year. It will connect students from the International University of Monaco with business mentors to develop community-focused event proposals over four months. Student teams working within set budgets will pitch their ideas to a jury in late April, with the winning project receiving full JCI Monaco funding for delivery in June.
“The students will experience the entire entrepreneurial journey, from finding the idea to respecting a budget, finding the right partners to deliver the event, securing suitable venues, and then executing it on the day,” Dubois said.
The organisation is also planning to improve Monaco Inspire, which celebrates its third edition in late November. After feedback from previous years, organisers are going to introduce cheaper morning-only tickets to complement their full-day pass, making the event more accessible to those primarily interested in the keynote speakers.
“We want to review the ticket prices to allow us to invite a broader range of people,” Dubois explained. Three keynote speakers will address attendees in the morning, with a new feature allowing participants to book one-to-one sessions with speakers throughout the day. The afternoon retains the pitch contest and adds optional workshops.
Broader strategic shift
These changes reflect JCI Monaco’s repositioning around three core pillars: attractiveness, entrepreneurship and innovation. Meanwhile, the organisation has dropped its previous focus on personal development in order to promote innovation as “the voice of 18 to 40-year-olds” in Monaco’s business community.
In addition, training programmes are expanding beyond entrepreneurs to include corporate employees. “Until now, we had many training sessions for entrepreneurs, but Luxmaan wanted to promote this aspect and offer more training in the corporate world, with soft skills dedicated to employees,” Dubois said.
The attractiveness pillar will deliver around 15 public events this year, including four breakfast conferences with guest speakers. Vivarelli stressed that despite the organisation’s 18-40 age limit for membership, all events remain open to the public. “There’s no age requirement for attending events,” he said.
Three Pitch Night sessions will also run throughout the year, with the first on March 18th dedicated to IUM students. The free evening events at JCI Monaco headquarters give participants a platform to present their projects to mentors and audiences.
The organisation also maintains its core initiatives, including the Business Creation Competition in its 31st year and the Startup Meeting series.
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Main photo credit: Monaco Life. From left to right: Julien Vivarelli, Lucas Dubois, Luxmaan Sellappah