| Founder(s) | Theodore Vail, Horace Moses |
|---|---|
| Type | 501c3 |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Location | Colorado Springs, Colorado |
| Key people | Sean C. Rush, Jack Kosakowski |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Mission | To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. |
| Volunteers | 330,000 |
| Website | http://www.ja.org |
Junior Achievement or JA or JA Worldwide is a non-profit youth organization that was founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and senator Winthrop M. Crane. JA focuses on educating kids in K-12 about the free enterprise system. Junior Achievement originally began as a collection of small, after-school business clubs for students on the East Coast of the United States, but has since grown to become known as the world's largest organization dedicated to teaching students about entrepreneurism, workforce readiness and financial literacy.
Junior Achievement's global headquarters is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The organization merged its U.S. and international operations in 2004, and currently reaches 10 million youth in 123 countries.
Junior Achievement's programs focus on work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy, and teach young people important skills to help them become economically empowered. JA students learn how to start and grow a business, how to successfully contribute in the workplace, and how to effectively manage the money they earn. Junior Achievement programs also 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 learn the value of contributing to their communities.
JA programs are taught in the classroom and after school by community volunteers, who use JA curriculum and share their work-life experiences with students.
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Junior Achievement was founded in 1919 by Theodore Newton Vail, president of American Telephone & Telegraph; Horace A. Moses, president of Strathmore Paper Co.; and Senator Winthrop M. Crane of Massachusetts. Its first program, JA Company Program, was offered to high school students on an after-school basis, and allowed teens to start and run a real business under the mentorship of a volunteer from the local business community.
In 1975, the organization entered the classroom with the introduction of Project Business for the middle grades. During the past 30 years, JA has expanded its activities and broadened its scope to include in-school and after-school students in grades K–12, and currently impacts nearly 10 million youth in 123 countries.
Students who participate in Junior Achievement programs demonstrate a significant understanding of economics and business concepts, particularly those who participate in programs at consecutive grade levels, according to independent evaluators.
Junior Achievement develops and maintains programs for children of all ages. The curriculum for each program is developed and maintained by a team of educational professionals. Both in-school and after-school JA programs are taught by community volunteers. Its programs are funded by businesses, foundations, individuals and special events. They are designed to be taught in the classroom by business, parent, and community volunteers.
Programs implemented outside the U.S. include: