About Mark
Founder & CEO
Mark Laitflang Stone is the founder and entrepreneur behind North East India’s leading personal development enterprise, Avenues. His entrepreneurial journey began at the age of 17 and has traversed spaces as diverse as technology, events, hospitality, telecom, skilling, youth engagement and citizen support. Over two decades of building meaningful partnerships in the youth empowerment space with government, and pioneering successful ventures in citizen services, what has remained closest to Mark’s heart is his belief in the transformational impact of young teams and values-driven enterprises. Under his leadership, Avenues has touched the lives of thousands of youth across Northeast India through soft skills and personal development interventions. Mark also leads Avenues’ Business Consulting division that provides niche services in survey operations, big data and impact assessment to government, civil society and community stakeholders. He is a sought-after keynote speaker and trainer and has addressed audiences in over 150 events in India, Europe and South East Asia. He is also a published author, with a chapter to his name in the popular "Coach Wisdom" series that are bestsellers on Amazon. His past engagements have included a Founding Curatorship for the Global Shapers community with the World Economic Forum as well as Co-Chairmanship for the "Adult Literacy" vertical of the India@75 Foundation. He has represented India internationally at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Milan in 2015 and was selected to be part of a 15 member delegation of young Indian leaders at the 10th edition of the Australia-India Youth Dialogue held in Sydney and Melbourne in 2022.
For his pioneering work in life coaching and employability interventions for tribal youth, a regional panel of peers and leaders felicitated him with the first-ever Northeast Young Heroes Award for Education in 2020. In recognition of his contributions to youth empowerment and leadership, Mark was also felicitated with the inaugural edition of AsiaOne’s Asian Youth Empowerment Leader Award 2O2O-21 at the 15th Asia-Middle East-Africa Business & Social Forum Summit held in Dubai in 2021.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Built and led 8 businesses over 22 years of Serial Entrepreneurship.
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Founder and CEO, AVENUES, North East India’s pioneering Life Coaching Social Enterprise.
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KeyNote Speaker at over 150+ events in India, SE Asia and Europe.
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Contributing Author for the bestselling Coach Wisdom 2 on Amazon.
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Recipient of Leaders’ Connect North East Young Heroes Award for Education, 2020.
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Recipient of Asia One Magazine’s prestigious Asian Youth Empowerment Leader Award, 2021.
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Leading India’s first Ministry funded Soft Skills and Talent Identification intervention for Tribal Youth impacting over 20,000 lives since 2019.
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Delegation Member at the Australia-India Youth Dialogue’s 10th Bilateral cohort hosted in Sydney and Melbourne.
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The journey
Avenues is Northeast India's first indigenous personal-excellence coaching and training organization. Since our establishment in 2003, we have been committed to creating, initiating and deploying high-impact interventions that promote personal growth, career readiness, professional development and leadership capacities for a wide audience. Our programmes reach out to children, adolescents, student communities in schools and campuses, teachers, and working professionals.
With two decades of experience, Avenues has honed its exceptional management skills through extensive large-scale, data-driven projects, spanning state-wide mandates and community initiatives in Northeast India. Rooted in its profound grassroots connections, Avenues excels in crafting precise strategies, seamless methodologies, and ensuring data integrity. Moreover, it actively contributes to local youth employment opportunities. This rich history uniquely positions Avenues to provide expert services for the successful execution of large-scale projects, setting it apart in the field.
In a historic first for Meghalaya, the Government crafted a specialized, multi-faceted program for its youth in their 50-year journey. This initiative aimed to empower young people with common soft skills training, fostering ambition, enhancing career readiness, recognizing talent, and pinpointing skill development for meaningful livelihoods. By offering a platform that acknowledges aspirations, strengthens character, and celebrates hidden talents through values and skills training, every youth has the potential to become their best selves and contribute to society productively.
APEX is driven by the belief that personal excellence paves the way for young adults to attain academic success, clarity in career choices aligned with their potential and market demands, and overall well-being encompassing cultural identity, talent, and mental health. Essential human skills like Communication, Scientific Thinking, and Wellbeing form the foundation for their personal growth, professional development, and global citizenship. Our community is dedicated to offering youth opportunities and support to build successful lives worldwide, embodying a commitment to societal well-being and continuous progress toward the pinnacle of human excellence.