Junior Achievement Program Overview

 
Junior Achievement Worldwide

WHAT IS JA WORLDWIDE?
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.

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 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.

PURPOSE
JA Worldwide’s purpose is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.

PROGRAM REACH
JA Worldwide reaches 9.3 million students per year in 367,000 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 123 countries around the world.

VOLUNTEERS
JA Worldwide’s 384,625 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 backbone of the organization.

ORGANIZATIONAL 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.