Dear guests,
Esteemed Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you today on this first regional conference for networking of mentoring networks. I would like to congratulate the organizers and look forward to have many successful events and projects.

Distinguished Guests,

If the genetic code is passed through bloodlines, then professional, valuable and ethical code are transmitted through mentoring.

Knowledge, experience and skills that we have acquired have a real sense only if we transfer them to the next generation. Being a mentor means to serve, to invest part of ourselves for generations to come. I believe that this is the real value of the Macedonian network of mentors.

But, the role of the mentor is not only to transmit knowledge, or just to explain it. The mentor should above all inspire, motivate and transform.

I know this from personal experience. As a university professor, I had the honor of being a mentor to many of my students. I know how noble feeling is to help and witness the professional and the life growth and development of the people that we mentor.

I can also tell you that as a mentor I learned a few things.

Above all, I know that it is always more noble to give than to receive. We should try to help those who need life and professional guidance. Through guidance, encouragement and stimulation, we should always be prepared to change someone's life for the better.

Plutarch says that the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled. I believe that people need to learn how to think, not what to think. If you teach a man what to think, that leads to unproductive single-mindedness. But if you teach a man how to think, you have created man with a free, open mind. That, to me, is the purpose of the mentor - to help people to open their minds to think outside the box, to find new solutions to problems, being aware of previous experiences.

I believe that all the people who have ever had the opportunity to mentor will agree with the view that the feeling of accomplishment is indispensable when you see young people succeed. The desire of every good teacher is to be overtaken and surpassed by their students.

It has been said that "success does not come as a result of being 100% better than your competition, but rather to be 1% better in a hundred different ways." If we work instead of just dream, if we inspire rather than just lecture, if we participate rather than just to belong, then we will be an example for future generations, and we will offer well-balanced ethical and moral values.

Only with dedication, care and patience we will encourage young people to live in accordance with the best ethical values. Only in that way we will convey life and professional principles to them, and they include self-confidence, diligence, respect for different opinions, respecting the rules of the game and a well developed sense of responsibility. Only then we will build a virtuous young people that are essential in every sphere of social life -in economics and politics, education and science, culture and sport.

That's why I have founded the School for Young Leaders, where proven leaders from around the world share their knowledge and experiences with the most successful young people of every generation. The engagement of young leaders does not end with the school, but continues in Alumni Association - ISLAA, which through its mission leaves a mark.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With mentor networking, countries in the region make another important step for further involvement and encouragement of young women with entrepreneurial spirit.

Although it is a young initiative, previous experience has shown that the Macedonian mentoring network builds a successful model of mentoring. Success is always greater if you share it with others. This is the essence of this regional networking. We should not only strive to build successful generations in the Republic of Macedonia, but to invest and to exchange experiences with all countries in the region.

Dear friends,

The future is in people that create physical, material and spiritual deeds. Future is in dedicated, creative and innovative individuals. But the present belongs to the responsible people, mentors. I invite you to help and encourage them, to direct and to inspire them, to facilitate their path to self-realization. It's the least we can do.

Thus, at the end, I wish many more successful conferences and networking, much more successful mentoring.

Thank you.