Program Spotlights

JA Summer Institute

In August 2020, we presented our seventh annual JA Summer Institute, held virtually for the first time. Collectively, twenty-two volunteers from nine companies engaged with twenty-four students from thirteen cities in our region through a variety of workshops. Each day began with a spotlight on an executive speaker who shared their successes and failures and how their experiences shaped their current roles. In total, we presented five workshops covering topics such as career clusters, product development, understanding how to pay for college, and understanding the importance of health and car insurance. To conclude the program, students networked with business professionals during rounds of mentorship sessions.

Thank you to our generous program sponsors Endurance International Group, Experian, Avanade, AIG, Eastern Bank, Morgan Stanley, Dedham Bank, TIAA, and M&T/Wilmington Trust.

JA Career Speaker Series

Throughout the 2020-21 school year, our chapter hosted a JA Career Speaker Series. Our guest speakers spoke about their youth, experiences, lessons learned, how they got into their current career path, and took questions from high school students.

Speakers included:

• Sasidhar Nayudu, Vice-President, and Brett Tervalon, Director Consulting Solutions, both from CGI

• Retired General and former Director CIA and NSA Michael V. Hayden, Major Margaret H. Graf, and Staff Sergeant Todd Bowers from Wayfair

• Marisela Marrero, then President of Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton

• Adam Braun, Founder & CEO of Pencils of Promise

JA Take Stock in Your Future & Stock Market Challenge

In the fall of 2020, 304 students from six schools, 84% of which were from our impact communities, participated in the JA Take Stock in Your Future lessons and Stock Market Challenge. During this program, students learned about what the stock market was, how to buy, sell, and trade, how to build a diverse portfolio and balance risk and return.

2020 Stock Market Challenge Top Overall Teams

• First Place: BLS #1 (Boston Latin School)

• Second Place: Cruz - LHS Period 6 Team 3 (Lawrence High School)

• Third Place: Team 4 (Xaverian Brothers High School)

2020 JA Take Stock in Your Future/Stock Market Challenge Participating Schools

• Boston Latin School

• Lawrence High School

• Lowell High School

• Somerville High School

• Waltham High School

• Xaverian Brothers High School

JA Program with Josiah Quincy Elementary School

In spring 2021, we partnered with Josiah Quincy Elementary School in Boston to bring JA in a new format to their 4th and 5th grade classrooms—virtually—with lessons taught remotely by volunteers from Santander Bank and Accenture. These volunteers brought JA’s lessons to life, connecting to 238 students in eleven classrooms. Students learned about entrepreneurial thinking and behavior, business components, profit and revenue, and career clusters. Thank you to Santander and Accenture for volunteering and giving your time to these students!

Afterschool JA Company Program

Pre-pandemic, JA’s popular capstone program was implemented in-person at corporate offices in Boston and Lawrence. Due to the pandemic, we shifted this program to be completely virtual in 2020-21. Eighty-five students created ten companies, and through the dedication of passionate mentors, now have the lived experience of launching, operating, and running a business. We were able to bring even more experts to the program and welcomed Slalom Consulting to help students with their marketing campaigns and RSM to conduct audits for all companies. From 104 JA chapters across the United States, fifteen companies were chosen to compete in the JA Student Leadership Summit—including three from our chapter!