History
In 1958, a small group of business leaders who believed in children and the importance of their understanding of
free enterprise, chartered Junior Achievement of the Central Carolinas. Recently, American business and the
US economy have faced historic challenges. As in 1958, the lessons taught through Junior Achievement are as
relevant and important for young people to hear as ever. Today as then, Junior Achievement programs deliver simple,
understandable lessons about the economy and about doing business the right way.
Junior Achievement nationally was founded in 1919 by Theodore Vail, President of American Telephone and Telegraph;
Horace Moses, President of Strathmore Paper Co.; and Senator Murray Crane of Massachusetts. The first program,
the Company Program, was offered to high school students after school. In 1972, the organization entered the
classroom with the introduction of Project Business for the middle grades, adding Applied Economics and Business
Basics shortly thereafter. In the last 20 years, Junior Achievement has gradually expanded its activities
and broadened its scope to encompass a much larger student population. Today, Junior Achievement offers
sequential, integrated programs in grades pre-k through twelve, reaching annually 4 million students across America.
We do all this with the help of our volunteers. Volunteers
who so care about our youth they take time out of their day
to make a difference. How do we know this? We
have external evaluators measure the impact of our programs. For more information
on JA's effectiveness, see the
JA Programs section.
Junior Achievement is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit
organization sponsored by corporate and individual contributors.
Interested in helping advance JA's mission? Find out how
you can make a
financial contribution to the organization by contacting Tamara Brainerd.
JA Works!
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