Six teams representing students from the Greater Washington region, and as far as Cyprus, spent five intense days participating in Junior Achievement’s sixth annual JA Entrepreneurship Summit, a virtual “startup boot camp” that challenges high schoolers to design socially conscious businesses.
The experience helped students develop the technical and soft skills needed to not only become successful entrepreneurs, but also meet the demands of a rapidly changing economy in a variety of professions and careers. Students utilized technology to brainstorm and collaborate with peers, participated in mini-seminars and workshops, and learned from business leaders and trained volunteer mentors.
This year, student teams were tasked to develop creative solutions for local challenges in the areas of education and work readiness, equity and social justice, and the environment.
In addition to creating and prototyping business solutions, students developed a lean business canvas that allowed for growth and sustainability and prepared a business pitch. Students learned to operate with limited resources in a high-stress situation, meet deadlines in spite of steep learning curves, and build leadership skills from every level within an organization.
Volunteer Support
The student teams were supported and guided by over 50 volunteer mentors throughout the week.
Thank you, Team Advisors:
Elizabeth Hamilton, Leidos
Stephanie Jorge-Machado, Leidos
Alex Evonsion, Leidos
Chris Ricci, NVA Career Coaching LLC
Edward McNabb, LinkedIn
Hanley Staley, Community Volunteer
Jason Wheaton, Nestle
Raul Diaz, Leidos
Thank you, Qualifying Round Judges:
David Brough, E*Trade
Thomas Daher, Nestle
Maxwell Gocala-Nguyen, George Mason
Elizabeth Hoffman, E*Trade
Carolyn Ibacache, E*Trade
Brian McCarthy, E*Trade
Michele Naber, Capital One
Thank you, Final Round Judges:
Jeff Burchett, Custom Ink
Jermaine Johnson, PNC Bank
Dwayne Redd. State Farm
Thank you, Volunteers:
Alexis Tonkel, Custom Ink
Alison Cawood, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Anna Oluyomi, Deloitte
Armun Asgari, Custom Ink
Ben Knezic, Custom Ink
Beth Ruedi, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Chrisi Schauder, Custom Ink
Durecia Moorer, ABCD & Company
Elias Economopoulos, KMPG
Erica Mariani, KMPG
Erin Fusco, Custom Ink
Evan Wilson, HSBC
Gayle Robinson, FBLA
Griffin Cole, Custom Ink
Hunter Rheaume, KMPG
Irene Onyango, KMPG
Jared Wilson, ABCD & Company
Jimmie Jones, Truist
John Clary, Community Volunteer
Jordana Cole, Custom Ink
Karlene Sinclair-Robinson, Community Business Partnership Environment
Katie Plunkert, Custom Ink
Kerry Wekelo, Actualize Consulting
Kimberly Ginyard, Salesforce
Kristin Blake, KMPG
Kyle Rumsey, KPMG
Linda Wu, JA Alumna
Mike Bryan, Entrepreneur
Myisha Procter, Custom Ink
Natalie Van Dyke, Custom Ink
Selena Smith, Truist
Tamir Sherif, ATCS
Yvette Schuler, State Farm
final pitch presentations
College Connect by Team Backyardigans (Rose Chen, Noel Wilson, Annalise Horner, Anna Miller)
Watershed Warriors by Team Creative Annaydnees (Jaden Coffie, Naasera Husain, Sydnee Rhodes, Alexandra Greenfield)
She’s Hired by Team Creative Imaginations ( Srivaths Agaram, Ashrita Chadeva, Aniyah Gaffney)
Competition Results
First Place - Team Backyardigans
First Place - Team Creative Annaydnees
Third Place - Team Creative Imaginations
The 2021 JA Entrepreneurship Summit would not have been possible without the support of Custom Ink, our JA Be Entrepreneurial partner, and State Farm, our competition partner.
