WHAT IS JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT?
JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement) is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students about work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. Junior Achievement programs help prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs which make their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace. Students put these lessons into action, and help strengthen their communities.
PURPOSE
JA Worldwide’s purpose is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.
PROGRAM REACH
JA Worldwide reaches 8.3 million students per year in 339,000 classrooms and afterschool locations. JA programs are taught by volunteers in inner cities, suburbs, and rural areas throughout the United States of America and in more than 100 countries around the world.
VOLUNTEERS
JA Worldwide’s 287,000 classroom volunteers around the world come from all walks of life and include business people, college students, parents, and retirees. These dedicated individuals are the
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backbone of the organization.
PROVEN SUCCESS
JA is one of a few global nonprofits to use independent, third-party evaluators to gauge the impact of its programs. Since 1993, independent evaluators have conducted studies on JA’s effectiveness. Findings prove that JA has a positive impact in a number of critical areas. These results are available free upon request. Summaries of the findings also are published in the JA Programs section at www.ja.org.
LEADERSHIP
Ainar D. Aijala Jr., Global Managing Partner of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, is chairman of the JA Worldwide board of directors. Sean C. Rush is president and chief executive officer. A total of 64 JA Worldwide board members represent a wide range of businesses and academic institutions around the world. In addition, more than 9,000 board members lead JA Offices around the world.
A BRIEF HISTORY
Junior Achievement was founded in 1919 by Theodore Vail, president of American Telephone & Telegraph; Horace Moses, president of Strathmore Paper Co.; and Senator Murray Crane of Massachusetts. Its first program, JA Company Program, was offered to high school students on an after-school basis. In 1975, the organization entered the classroom with the introduction of Project Business
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for the middle grades. Over the last 30 years, JA has expanded its activities and broadened its scope to include in-school and after-school students.
FUNDING
JA Worldwide Headquarters operates on a $32 million annual budget; more than $266 million (gross revenue) is raised by JA offices around the world and from individual contributors and hundreds of corporations and foundations.
ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW
JA Worldwide is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. The Headquarters’ office provides strategic direction, leadership, and support to approximately 3,000 employees worldwide. Local volunteer boards of directors comprised of business, education, and civic leaders set the policy and direction for each local office.
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For More Information,
Contact:
JA Worldwide Headquarters
One Education Way
Colorado Springs, CO 80906
(719) 540-8000
www.ja.org
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