JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
youth organization
The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for Minor (law), minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted othe ...
founded in 1919 by
Horace A. Moses
Horace Augustus Moses (1863-1947) was a prominent industrialist and profound social engineer who founded Mittineague Paper Company in West Springfield, Massachusetts, which later became Strathmore Paper Company. He is also noted for his involveme ...
,
Theodore Vail
Theodore Newton Vail (July 16, 1845 – April 16, 1920) was president of American Telephone & Telegraph between 1885 and 1889, and again from 1907 to 1919. Vail saw telephone service as a public utility and moved to consolidate telephone networks u ...
, and
Winthrop M. Crane
Winthrop Murray Crane (commonly referred to as W. Murray Crane or simply Murray Crane; April 23, 1853October 2, 1920) was an American political figure and businessman.
In 1879, he secured his family company, paper manufacturer Crane & Co., an ...
. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver
experiential learning
Experiential learning (ExL) is the process of learning through experience, and is more narrowly defined as "learning through reflection on doing". Hands-on learning can be a form of experiential learning, but does not necessarily involve students ...
programs in the areas of
work readiness
Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...
,
financial literacy
Financial literacy is the possession of the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources. Raising interest in personal finance is now a focus of state-run prog ...
, and
entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
to students from ages 5 to 25.
History
''Boys' and Girls' Bureau of the Eastern States ''was founded in
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
, in 1919, as a spinoff of the
Eastern States Exposition
The Big E, formally known as The Eastern States Exposition, and billed as "New England's Great State fair", is the largest agricultural event on the eastern seaboard and the fifth-largest fair in the nation. The Big E is inclusive of all six of ...
, to help educate young people moving from rural areas to the cities about the means of production and free enterprise. The following year, the organization's name was changed to the Junior Achievement Bureau. The name was modified in 1926 to Junior Achievement, Inc.
Following World War II, the organization grew from a regional into a national organization.
In the 1960s, JA began its growth into an international organization.
[
Beginning in 1944, Junior Achievement organized an annual national conference, known as the National Junior Achievers Conference, NAJAC, to bring together student representatives of local programs to participate in contests. In 1949, the organization began allowing conference delegates to elect national leadership to play an active role contributing to program development, increasing public awareness and supporting fundraising.][
In 1975, Junior Achievement introduced its first in-school program, Project Business, to help volunteers teach local middle school students about business and personal finance.][
JA annually reaches more than 12 million students in more than 100 countries around the world. Programs are delivered by more than 450,000 JA volunteers.]
JA Worldwide has six regional offices: JA Africa, JA Americas, JA Asia Pacific, JA Europe, JA Middle East and Africa (INJAZ Al-Arab
INJAZ Al-Arab (Arabic: إنجاز العرب) is a non-profit organization for education and training in workforce readiness, financial literacy and entrepreneurship across the Arab World. INJAZ Al-Arab is the Regional Operating Center of JA Wor ...
), Junior Achievement USA.
Notable alumni
Notable JA alumni include former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala
Donna Edna Shalala ( ; born February 14, 1941) is an American politician and academic who served in the Carter and Clinton administrations, as well as in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. Shalala is a recipient of the Presid ...
, U.S. Congressman Bob Clement
Robert Nelson Clement (born September 23, 1943) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Tennessee, from 1988 until 2003, when he retired to run (unsucce ...
, Subway restaurant founder Fred DeLuca
Frederick Adrian DeLuca (October 3, 1947 – September 14, 2015) was an American businessman, who was the co-founder and president of the Subway franchise of fast food restaurants with Peter Buck. During his tenure, Subway grew into the largest ...
, American actor Arte Johnson
Arthur Stanton Eric Johnson (January 20, 1929 – July 3, 2019) was an American comic actor who was best known for his work as a regular on television's ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''.
Biography
Early life
Johnson was born January 20, 1929, in ...
, journalist Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (; born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. Rather began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurr ...
, Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...
owner Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to ''Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 list ...
, comedian Amy Sedaris
Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both ''The Mandalorian'' (2019–2020) and ''The Book of Boba Fett'' (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the ...
, and British Labor Party Politician David Lammy
David Lindon Lammy (born 19 July 1972) is an English politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenh ...
.
Notable Canadian JA alumni include entrepreneur and television personality Manjit Minhas
Manjit Minhas (born May 31, 1980) is a Canadian entrepreneur, television personality and venture capitalist. She is co-owner of Minhas Breweries & Distillery, manufacturer of beer brands such as Mountain Crest Classic Lager, Boxer Lager, Lazy Mut ...
(Alberta), marketing executive Jennifer Wilnechenko (British Columbia), executive director of The DMZ at Ryerson University
The DMZ is Toronto Metropolitan University's business incubator for early-stage technology startups.
The incubator was launched under the name Digital Media Zone in April 2010, a year after then-president Sheldon Levy
Sheldon Levy (born 1949) ...
Abdullah Snobar (Ontario), and young philanthropist Ben Sabic (Manitoba).
In fiction
The July 1962 issue of ''Analog Science Fact & Fiction
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...
'' published a short story by William M. Lee called "Junior Achievement", about a JA group consisting of genius children who invent and sell products beyond the comprehension of their adult leader.
Leadership
From its founding in 1919 until 1962, JA was managed by volunteers from the business community. In 1962, the organization hired its first, full-time, paid president.[
Notable Board Chairs have included:
* 1919–1920: ]Theodore N. Vail
Theodore Newton Vail (July 16, 1845 – April 16, 1920) was president of American Telephone & Telegraph between 1885 and 1889, and again from 1907 to 1919. Vail saw telephone service as a public utility and moved to consolidate telephone networks u ...
, AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
* 1920–1942: Horace A. Moses
Horace Augustus Moses (1863-1947) was a prominent industrialist and profound social engineer who founded Mittineague Paper Company in West Springfield, Massachusetts, which later became Strathmore Paper Company. He is also noted for his involveme ...
, Strathmore Paper
* 1942–1944: Charles R. Hook
Charles Ruffin Hook Sr. (July 12, 1880 - November 15, 1963) was an American industrialist, second president of Armco Steel Corp., and recipient of the Henry Laurence Gantt Medal in 1950.
Life and work
Hook was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ha ...
, Armco Steel
AK Steel Holdings Corporation was a steelmaking company headquartered in West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio. The company, whose name was derived from the initials of Armco, its predecessor company, and Kawasaki Steel Corporation, was a ...
* 1970–1971: John D. deButts
John D. deButts (1915–1986) was an American businessman. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T from 1972 to 1979.Eric N. BergJohn D. deButts, Ex-Chairman of A.T.&T., Is Dead ''The New York Times'', December 18, 1986 , AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
* 1977–1979: Frank T. Cary
Frank T. Cary (December 14, 1920 – January 1, 2006) was an American executive and businessman. Cary served as the Chairman of IBM from 1973 to 1983 and CEO from 1973 to 1981.
Early life and education
Frank Taylor Cary was born on December 1 ...
, IBM
* 1979–1981: David T. Kearns
David Todd Kearns (August 11, 1930February 25, 2011) was an American businessman who was CEO of Xerox Corporation (1982–1990) and served as the first United States Deputy Secretary of Education from 1991 to 1993.
Early life and education
Kear ...
, Xerox
Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...
* 1983–1985: John A. Young
John A. Young (born April 24, 1932) is an American business executive and electrical engineer. He was chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard from 1978 to 1992. He also formerly served as a director of Wells Fargo & Company.
Biography
Young ...
, Hewlett-Packard Co.
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
* 1987–1989: Lodwrick M. Cook, ARCO
ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...
* 2003–2006: Samuel DiPiazza
Samuel A. DiPiazza Jr. is a former CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and is the current chairman of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Early life and education
He received dual degrees in accounting and economics from the University of Alabama where he becam ...
, CEO, PwC
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...
; Juan Cintron, President, Consultores Internacionales (co-chairs)
* 2011–2015: Ralph de la Vega
Ralph de la Vega is the former Vice Chairman of AT&T Inc. and CEO of AT&T Business Solutions and AT&T International. He has previously served as President & CEO of AT&T Mobile & Business Solutions; President and CEO of AT&T Mobility; COO of Cingul ...
, President & CEO, AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
Mobility
References
External links
JA Worldwide
Junior Achievement USA
{{Authority control
1919 establishments in Massachusetts
Business education
Youth organizations based in the United States