In March of 2020, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington became one of thousands of organizations across the world that had to make a quick and intense early-pandemic pivot to continue our mission. And pivot we did: we are proud to say that our all-virtual efforts were a success, allowing us to deliver the programs that offer our students the access and opportunities that set them up for success in life after high school.
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 JA of Greater Washington student entrepreneurs who created “Pick-Me-Up” in 2017 have relaunched their company at the University of Virginia (UVA) and gained acceptance into the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation’s VentureLab Incubator.
On Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018, SUNNIVA Super Coffee, JA's 2017 Entrepreneurship Summit business partner, sought out an investment on ABC's hit TV show "Shark Tank."
On Wednesday, August 9, 2017, team "Clear Solutions," composed of young entrepreneurs from across the region, won first place in the 2nd annual JA Entrepreneurship Summit Pitch Competition.
Team "Clear Solutions" was comprised of nine students from all across the DMV region, with a wide range of both ideas and strengths. Led by volunteer mentor James "TaB" Patrick, the members of team "Clear Solutions" included Ethan Forester, Kendrick Groman, Josemari Roque, Bennett Scheer, Sarika Sindhwani, Don Tran, Kalvin Vannavong-Indasom, Paolo Vicencio, and Porter Wallington.
Zoree Jones, a second-generation JA student and a freshman at Patriot High School in Nokesville, Virginia (USA), is used to giving speeches. Over the last two years, she has delivered the winning speech at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Youth Oratorical Contest; she won the Spotsylvania County (Virginia) Great Debate in 2015; and was awarded the Best Female Actor award at the Virginia Theatre Association Festival last year.
On Wednesday, August 10, 2016, 15 student entrepreneurs from around the Greater Washington region participated in a Shark Tank-style pitch competition. The three teams presented their entrepreneurial business ideas in front of a panel of business professionals as well as parents and community members. To prepare for this culminating event the students completed a three-day program full of challenges, and working sessions. The students were assigned an adult mentor and ultimately tasked with finding a creative, innovative, and sustainable business solution to the challenge presented to them. Junior Achievement’s partner in this summit, Community Business Partnership (CBP), led sessions on pitching, customer discovery and marketing.
