Interview with Alphie Mullings-Aikens, President, JA Biztown Jamaica

DOING GOOD

Junior Achievement JA Biztown Jamaica

Since 2014, JA Biztown has transformed how 50,000+ primary school students combine business management and financial literacy lear ning with hands-exper ience in Jamaica

Photo: Caribbean Broilers Group Foods, Jamaica

64 DECEMBER 2019 / apanamagazine.com

JA Biztown Model Town

Junior Achievement (JA) Biztown in Jamaica is historic as it is the first of its kind outside the United States. For one day, Grade 5 students become adults and run an entire town built just for them. They operate banks, manage restaurants, elect a mayor and so much more in this model town.

Students apply for a job at one of the 11 business facilities in the town. When hired, they take up employment at companies such as First Global Bank, EY, Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS), Caribbean Broilers Group, Flow, GB Energy, Drink Real Milk and FedEx for one day.

JA Biztown Program

JA Biztown is based on hands-on, experiential Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-based curriculum. Primary students in over 400 primary schools across Jamaica learn about business management, financial literacy, how money flows through an economy and work readiness. They are also taught critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creatively which are core concepts in the National Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations - the Jamaican high-school entrance test.

Teachers, trained JA Biztown staff members, deliver the curriculum over 4-6 weeks in the classroom which culminates in a visit to the JA Biztown facility for their business simulation.

JA Biztown

Flow, Jamaica

Photo: Flow, Jamaica

Inter view with Alphie Mullings- Aiken President Junior Achievement Jamaica

Junior Achievement ( JA) Jamaica, a chapter of JA Worldwide, is dedicated to educating students in the areas of entrepreneurship, f inancial literacy and work readiness thr ough exper iential and hands-on lear ning.

Ever since operations began in 2008, the cor porate sector has been an integral par t of JA's development. General Electr ic, CIBC FirstCar ibbean, Trelawny Chamber of Commerce and JA Worldwide suppor ted the pilot program implemented at the William Knibb Memor ial High School in Trelawny where 500 students par ticipated in JA Success Skills and JA Careers With A Pur pose .

JA Jamaica continued to grow, and by 2014, it launched JA Biztown, a multi-million dollar model business town facility in Caenwood, St.Andrew. This histor ic event was only made possible through strong local and inter national alliances and par tnerships with the pr ivate sector, the Rotar y Club, the United States Agency for Aid (USAID) and the Gover nment of Jamaica. The JA Biztown and JA Company programs are now par t of the school cur r icula in Jamaica.

Alphie Mullings-Aiken established the JA chapter in

Alphie Mullings-Aiken, President, Junior Achievement Jamaica

JA Biztown

First Global Bank, Jamaica

Jamaica when she retur ned home from the United States. Alphie, the f irst President of JA Jamaica is known for her dr ive and commitment to the youth development. She was instr umental in setting up JA Biztown against the odds. ApaNa Magazine discusses her role, par tner ing, volunteer ing, JA Biztown as the evolution and future of JA Jamacia

Tell us about Junior Achievement.

Junior Achievement is an international non-profit organisations operating in over 115 countries. We inspire and prepare young people to succeed in our global economy. Globally, we have 400,000 private sector volunteers to help us reach 12 million students each year.

How has Junior Achievement Jamaica evolved since its founding in ter ms of resources, reach, and results?

Alphie Mullings-Aiken President, JA Jamaica

Junior Achievement began as an after-school program. Today, we reach over 30,000 students in 347 schools and run eight programs, two of which are now part of the school curricula. All grade five and nine students now take JA Biztown and JA Company or Entrepreneur programmes

GB Energy

respectively. For me, this is a major success as students are embracing entrepreneurship as a core subject area and they will have the experience of running a business and building on the entrepreneurial mindset.

The program - JA Biztown. How does it work and what makes it unique?

Grade 5 students participate in class-room learning for six weeks in school and then they come to our facility and learn to run a business for a day. We have about twelve different companies at Biztown and they get to run all of them. They could apply to anyone ranging from a chief executive officer to a marketing representative to a guard or customer service agent. They work in a hotel, newspaper, bank etc. They may conduct interviews at our TV studio or radio station or publish a newspaper. Biztown money (fake money) is used - they get paid for the work they are doing. This unique experience is a great way for them to connect all that they have learned into a business.

Descr ibe the inspiration and motivation behind the founding of JA Biztown. When did you f irst have the idea of setting up JA Biztown?

I had volunteered for JA for thirteen years in New York and Connecticut with my employer prior to moving back to Jamaica. When we made the decision to start JA in Jamaica, I went to JA's US headquarters for training. It was there that I learnt about Biztown. I remember saying, 'Oh, I want that for Jamaica". They told me that I should not think about it for the first ten years as it is very expensive to set up. That same year, I pitched the idea to the now Prime Minister of Jamaica when he was the Minister of Education. Well, happily, five years later, actually, JA Biztown was launched.

The inspiration behind Biztown comes from one thing: a different type of enhanced learning experience for students, so they can see and appreciate work, and understand the benefits of getting paid and positively play a role in their nation's growth.

How did you raise the capital to build JA Biztown?

Even before we started Junior Achievement in Jamaica, we started pitching Biztown to the Minister of Education and senior staff. We were always looking for ways to implement it but we knew how expensive. Allison Piert, our board member from Ernst and Young, helped to champion the initial seed funding to build the facility. The Ministry of Education contributed the use of a building and land to construct additional buildings; all of which the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) outfitted. Private companies sponsored the storefronts and got Biztown running.

What kind of suppor t do you receive from cor porate sponsors?

At Biztown, different companies sponsor the program. There are eleven 180-square foot stores surrounding a courtyard. We lease the storefront to private companies. These corporate sponsors outfit and brand the stores to replicate their storefronts so that they look real. Sponsorship enables us to support up to 10,000 students each year and the Ministry of Education supports an additional 10,000 students. The use of funds includetraining teachers and a workbook for every child.

You rely on volunteers for your programs. How do you attract them?

We attract volunteers in a number of ways. For example, we have employees from our partner organisations who volunteer their time. We also engage other individuals from the private sector. For Biztown, we ask schools to identify parents to accompany their children on the field trip to facility. We place them in a store (not the same as their child) to provide guidance and support to the students.

As JA Jamaica continues to expand, paint for a moment a por trait of the organization's position -- as you wish it would be -- f ive years down the road.

In five years, I see another JA Biztown on the north coast near Montego Bay so that more students can enjoy learning. I also see a financially sustainable organisation that is valued for the proven contribution being made to nation-building by all.