Contact:
Rachel Tappis
Junior Achievement of Greater Washington
202.603.3457
Rachel.Tappis@ja.org
Local teen entrepreneurs will face off against national competitors in virtual competition
Washington, DC – Two Junior Achievement (JA) of Greater Washington student teams have been selected to compete at the virtual Junior Achievement National Student Leadership Summit (NSLS). The students will compete in the three-day event, June 22-24, against other teen entrepreneurs from across the United States.
The D.C.-area students founded two distinct companies, Baba Blankets and Complete Comfort, as part of their participation in JA Company Program®, in which high school students start and run a real business enterprise under the guidance of a volunteer from the local business community. The teens devise a product or service designed to fill an unmet consumer need, produce and market it, and recruit investors for their company. Baba Blankets was founded to provide comfort to those isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic through their signature blankets, while Complete Comfort aims to promote wellness by enhancing sleep through stress-relieving body wraps.
Five teen teams of five students each will vie for four different awards at the NSLS event. The competition’s top honor is JA Company of the Year, first-, second-, and third-place awards will be presented livestreamed on June 24. The student companies will be assessed on their financial performance, individual team members’ personal and professional development, on a self-produced commercial about their product or service, on their team’s live presentation to a panel of business leaders, and on their company’s performance. The other awards that will be presented at the 2021 NSLS virtual event include the Delta Social Impact Award, the EY Innovation Award, the FedEx Access Award, and the ICE NYSE Best Financial Performance Award.
In addition to competing, JA Company Program students will build their professional network with fellow teens from across the country, participate in professional development seminars to further build on their entrepreneurial skills, and will have the opportunity to engage with national experts in innovation, entrepreneurship, and business through virtual webinars.
About Junior Achievement of Greater Washington
Junior Achievement of Greater Washington is a non-profit organization that is changing the game for D.C. Metro area youth with relevant experiential education in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. We bring together school systems, business leaders and trained mentor volunteers to provide equal access to the tools, people and experiences all youth need to be 100% prepared for real life in the real world. That means students gain what matters most: control over their own lives, futures and careers. To learn more, visit myJA.org.
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