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JA INSIDER
A NEWSLETTER FOR JA SUPPORTERS | Fall 2021
JA ALUM LANDS JOB AT DISNEY Oliver Martinez-Reyes says being exposed to JA throughout high school gave him a passion for business and the confidence he needed, both as a first-generation college student and now as he launches his career.
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riginally from Mexico, Oliver Martinez-Reyes migrated to the U.S. with his family in early 2000s. His parents always instilled in him and his siblings the belief they can pursue anything they dream of. They spoke about their experience migrating to this country and adapting themselves to the work environment and the culture, explaining that education was crucially important for Oliver and his siblings’ future. In high school, Oliver’s teachers brought in Junior Achievement. Through his involvement in JA, he realized his passion was business. “The encouragement, while networking, and public speaking, encouraging us to ask questions, that really just sparked my interest in business as something I wanted to explore,” he says. JA invited him to deliver a speech about his experience when he was a sophomore in high school, a major turning point for him. “Afterwards, I remember people came up to me and said, ‘I thought you were a freshman in college!’ I thought, ‘whoa! They think I’m older! They think I’m professional!’ That really started building a foundation that gave me confidence in public speaking, confidence to go up to anyone in a room and introduce myself. It was completely new to me, things they don’t teach you in high school and things my parents weren’t able to teach me, and here comes Junior Achievement giving me these tips, tricks, and experience that left me feeling in awe, this could lead to something.” Oliver continued participating in JA classroom and experiential programs throughout high school, before graduating and becoming the first in his family to attend college. In May 2021, he graduated from the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and a Master’s Degree in Accounting. Over the summer, he landed a job as a financial analyst for the Walt Disney Company. “I credit my success to Junior Achievement. The foundation of career success and what career readiness means, as well as the financial literacy lessons, are ultimately what got me
Above: Oliver practicing his networking skills in JA Business Week in 2016. Left: Oliver served as a JA Student Ambassador for multiple years in the Colorado Business Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
introduced to business. It got me passionate about learning and problem solving. If it wasn’t for Junior Achievement bringing the real world to the classroom, I would have never been exposed to the idea or possibility that I could belong in a place such as the Walt Disney Company. JA gave me the confidence to go tackle the world and jump in an environment I’m unfamiliar with.”
A LASTING IMPRESSION ON STUDENTS
Growing up, Nubia Martinez-Caro did not have teachers or role models who looked like her. Now, as a volunteer with Junior Achievement, she is serving as a role model for young Hispanic students, as well as older students who can sometimes be harder to impress.
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ubia Martinez-Caro has been volunteering as a role model with Junior Achievement for eight years through her company, Wells Fargo. Often, she’ll work with bilingual elementary school classrooms, teaching them JA lessons. “I make a point of saying my family is from Mexico and I speak Spanish, and to just see a lot of little faces light up and then they tell me, ‘oh my family is from Mexico, my family is from El Salvador!’ It’s really exciting because I know they’re seeing somebody who looks like them in front of the classroom,” she says. “Growing up, I didn’t have that. I didn’t have a lot of role models who looked like me in teacher roles or at the bank, or really in a lot of places. I know that they get excited when they see someone who looks like them teaching them about money or anything in general.”
“By telling stories that apply to the lessons, the students take a lot of that home and teach their siblings. So it becomes a greater impact than just the classroom.” Nubia Martinez-Caro, JA Volunteer
right, and then the creative kids who come up with some really interesting flavors of popcorn and interesting marketing strategies!”
Nubia volunteers in middle school JA classrooms as well, where she admits it’s a little harder to impress students. Nubia makes a point of saying that volunteering as a role model is not about being a curriculum expert or even a finance expert, but just being able to “It’s interesting to see how the dynamic plays out when we’re building a mar- share stories that apply to the lessons with students. keting plan for Oogie’s Popcorn, for instance. As they begin working together in groups and giving a presentation, it’s really cool to see their personalities “JA has all that expertise already, but by telling stories that apply to the lescome through. We give them a lot of freedom to be creative and explore, and sons, the students take a lot of that home and teach their parents and their you’ll begin to see the kids who are really analytical and want their ads just siblings. So it becomes a greater impact than just the classroom.“
JA BY THE NUMBERS: 2020-2021 Despite the pandemic and only being able to provide programs virtually last school year, JA accomplished a lot!
61,288
346,766
55
Students Served
Contact Hours
New School Partnerships Established
83
Educator Net Promoter Score (Measures the loyalty of educators to JA on a scale of -100 to 100. Scores above 70 are considered WORLD-CLASS!)
363
Schools Reached
Save the Date Thursday, January 27, 2022 Presented by UMB Bank
2022 Inductees Robert L. Albin Clara Brown Tim Gill Robert Newman Nancy and Curt Richardson Donald L. Sturm
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT THANKS YOU FOR YOUR PAST SUPPORT!
This year, we are back to delivering programs in-person, while continuing to offer virtual programs when requested by educators. Your continued support will enable us to provide the real-world knowledge and skills that spark students’ passions and help them become confident, optimistic, and motivated as they pursue their dreams. Give for Colorado Gives Day on December 7 at ColoradoGives.org/JAColorado or give directly to JA at JAColorado.org/donate