banner photo: JA Board Member, Ashlee Accetta of Fidelity Investments, works with students at George West Elementary School as part of 2019 Education Awareness Week.

Why JA?

Employers agree that the nation's college graduates are not prepared with the 21st century skills to succeed in the workplace. Put simply, we're not empowering our kids to be more successful than the generations who came before them. At Junior Achievement, we envision a world where all young people have the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities. Together with our educational partners, we can make learning relevant to every student's future by infusing authenticity, business connectivity, and real role models into the everyday learning experience.

Our core values

  • Believe in the boundless potential of young people

  • Approach our work with passion honestly, integrity, and excellence.

  • Seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and talents in our staff, volunteers, and board to reflect the geographies and communities we serve

  • Teach principled, market-based economics and entrepreneurship that build a more sustainable world

  • Nurture the power of partnership and collaboration

  • Advocate for relevant, hands-on learning

who we are

Junior Achievement® is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students in grades K-12 about financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship, reaching more than 10 million students in 100 countries worldwide. Since 1921, Junior Achievement of Rhode Island has been transforming lives through its innovative, hands-on financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship K-12 programs.

JA®’s unique program approach brings volunteer role models from our region’s leading companies and the community to deliver these standards-based programs, providing students with a perspective that reaches far beyond the classroom.

VOLUNTEERS

Junior Achievement's classroom volunteers come from all walks of life, including business people, college students, parents, and retirees. These dedicated individuals are the backbone of our organization.

PROVEN SUCCESS

Junior Achievement is one of a few nonprofits to use independent, third-party evaluators to gauge the impact of its programs. Since 1993, independent evaluators have conducted studies on Junior Achievement's effectiveness. Findings prove that Junior Achievement has a positive impact in a number of critical areas. We invite you to read the Programs Evaluation Results.

DIVERSITY STATEMENT

Junior Achievement is the recognized leader in "empowering young people to own their economic success®" through volunteer-led, experiential learning. We are dedicated to providing a positive, enriching learning experience free of bias. Junior Achievement welcomes K-12 students, volunteers and potential staff regardless of race, religion, age, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation or any other legally protected characteristic.