The future was on display at Denver Startup Week Wednesday as a panel of prospective entrepreneurs, three 11-year-old sixth graders, told the audience their ideas for the coming years, especially concerning a renewable energy-based economy.

“When we think about our future, and we start to despair, we can instead think about these young people right here,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who delivered closing remarks at the “Generation Alpha: Young Entrepreneurs Focusing On Climate Change, Wars, Pandemics And Technology,” panel discussion at the The Commons on Champa.

Panelists included Ronan Beale, 11, sixth grader at Denver Jewish School; Kurosh Donnelly, 11, sixth grader at Denver Language School and Maxim Kaikov, 11, sixth grader at Rocky Heights Middle School.

“What inspired me to be on this panel is to leave a mark on the world and to inspire other people to do these kinds of things,” Kaikov said. “I want to help them with business and new business skills.

“I want to inspire others to learn more about the world and focus in giving it more attention because climate change cannot just be done by one person, it has to be done by multiple people.”

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper joined via video conference. He talked about his work as an entrepreneur, opening one of the state’s first brewpubs Wykoop Brewery in Denver’s Lower Downtown (LoDo) in 1988 — which some have credited for beginning the LoDo transformation into the bustling civic center it is now.

“This week was always one of my favorite times of the year. You have Fall. You have football season. I always considered Startup Week a season to look forward to,” Hickenlooper said. “It’s so important to get young entrepreneurs together, cross-pollinating and exchanging not just ideas, but their energy and their positivity and enthusiasm.”

He talked extensively about the recently-passed Inflation Reduction Act, and all of its climate change possibilities like aiming to slash carbon emissions by 40% “by the end of the decade,” clean-energy tax credits for businesses “in aggregate worth over $100 billion,” and the electric vehicle tax credits.

“I genuinely believe that metro Denver, and literally all of Colorado is going to be a magnetic hub for this ‘great transition’ into a clean-energy economy,” Hickenlooper said.

Each student introduced themselves to the senator and gave him their 30-second “elevator pitch” as to why they joined the panel.

“My thoughts on the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) is that it is a really good bill to pass,” Beale said. “I don’t want my next few generations worrying about heat waves and super storms. I want my next generations to be filled with happy, healthy lives.”

Moderator Alexandr Padalka, owner of Okinawa Dojo and the Prana Family Team Real Estate, asked what skills they picked up during the pandemic.

“I started becoming a bit more self-reliant at home,” said Donnelly, who donned a suit for the occasion. “Not the first few weeks of home school, my parents would still make me lunch. But then I started getting a bit more the hang of it.”

“If the pandemic hadn’t occurred, I wouldn’t be here right now,” Beale said. “When I was younger, nine years old, I had lots of school but I wasn’t thinking about the world around me. … I realized could do whatever I want, so I decided I’m going to notice the needs around me. And my mother inspired me. She’s right there.”

Asked about ideas for helping climate change, Kaikov said, “I have an idea that maybe gathering all the heat in the summer and also gathering all the cold in winter. Because when we’re in summer, we use a lot of electricity to make our homes colder. Maybe we can somehow put the winter cold into homes in the summer, and put the heat into homes to use in the winter.”

Weiser’s speech centered on the obligation of all Americans to help each other, and the world.

“You don’t have the obligation to repair the world by yourself. But none of us, even in sixth grade, are free to desist from doing our best,” Weiser said.

To those who attended, these kids seem to be on the right track.

“It feels good to leave a mark on the world,” Beale said. “It’s not to be famous or rich, but to leave a mark on the world by helping guide it to a better direction.”