About Us
Junior Achievement Eesti (JA Estonia) started working in 1992 under Open Estonia Foundation. Two years later it was registered as an independent organisation, a nongovernmental nonprofit organisation. It’s mission is to raise a new and enterprising generation who make wise economic decisions with integrity and responsibility. JA Estonia is the biggest deliverer of economics and entrepreneurship programmes for schools in Estonia. It has students from elementary grade up to the end of upper secondary level.
JA Estonia works in four main directions:
1) developing and adapting study materials for schools;
2) training teachers for delivering entrepreneurship and economics education at school;
3) organising educational events for students;
4) promoting responsible entrepreneurship in Estonia and in Europe.
JA Estonia has more than 14000 students and about 400 teachers in all counties of Estonia. Our programmes are used in more than 1/3 of Estonian schools. We have 9 employees, a Board of Directors with 5 persons and an advisory board consisting of leading teachers from all counties of Estonia. Executive Board consists of two people.
JA Estonia has a long experience in training teachers for entrepreneurship, workreadiness and financial literacy programmes. JA Estonia has also helped JA Moldova and JA Georgia in building up their organisations, developing their materials and re-organising their entrepreneurship education teacher training system. Now it is supporting JA Aserbaijan start modern entrepreneurship education in their schools.
JA Estonia organises student educational events for all schoolages. Our international conferences have been devoted developing to social responsibility, equal opportunites and ecological attitude in future decisionmakers and entrepreneurs.
JA Estonia has been announced a Model Nation by JA Europe for eight times. In 2019 it has also received JA Bata Award that is given to the most outstanding JA organisation of the year and JA Worldwide Collaboration award for the cooperation with JA Aserbaijan.
Junior Achievement Cyprus is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the world’s largest non-profit organisation dedicated to addressing fundamental social and economic challenges of young people by educating and empowering them to transform their future and own their economic success. JA Cyprus was established in 2011 and, two years later, introduced the flagship Company Programme – endorsed as a best practice by the European Commission – in high schools across the island.
JA Cyprus is a partnership between the business community, educators, mentors, volunteers and alumni — working together to inspire young people to dream big and reach their potential. Through the delivery of cutting edge experiential learning in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship, JA Cyprus effectively broadens the canvas of possibility for young people and enriches their ability to both engage in their own economic development and contribute to the strength of their families, communities, and economies.
Our programmes and activities welcome students of all ages, from primary school to higher education. The synergy of entrepreneurial teachers, motivated business mentors and high- quality content are key success factors to the JA student experience.JA Cyprus offers ten educational programmes that reached more than 9000 students, 650 teachers and 700 mentors so far.
Junior Achievement Portugal (JAP) is a non-profit organization created in September 2005. It is the Portuguese counterpart of Junior Achievement, the largest and oldest worldwide organization for entrepreneurship education.
JAP reaches all levels of education, ensuring entrepreneurial education from the first cycle to higher education.Junior Achievement experiences in our students’ academic path ensure the continued development of entrepreneurial skills, job readiness and financial literacy.
Our methodology consists in having students as the center of decision making and learning. They learn by doing. They make mistakes in the protected environment that is the school, with the support of volunteers from the working world and the teacher. They develop work skills: leadership, decision making, failure resistance, teamwork, presentation skills, and oral communication. JAP aims to raise more enterprising and more dynamic students who will own their future. In Portugal, the programs are divided into classroom programs and programs implemented in companies. In the classroom, the programs are as follows: 1) Our Family (1st grade), 2) Our Community (2 nd grade), Europe and Me (5th / 6th grade), It’s my business (7th / 8th grade), Economics for Success (9th grade), The Company Programme (10th to 12th grade-secondary students) and StartUP Program (university). In parallel, JAP organizes the Job Shadow Day (secondary students) and Leaders for a Day (university students) programs where students accompany volunteers in their work environment and participate in their daily activities.
In Portugal, supporting members are (companies and partners) who, through their quotas, donations and human resources, allow the development of entrepreneurship and employability skills, free of charge, in schools in all districts of the country. Since 2005, more than 390,000 students have been impacted, from basic education to university education, with the support of around 22,500 corporate volunteers. Annually, 36,000 students are impacted with our programs with the support of approximately 2,000 volunteers. We want to continue to be the election partner, for schools and for our companies, which continue to be concerned with encouraging the development of the skills we work on for our students.
JAP´s team is composed of 13 elements and is divided into two main areas: the area of management of associates and partnerships (4 people) and the area of schools and programs (6 people). Also, one person is currently assigned to the design and communication area and one person to support the organization’s management. All areas are supervised by the organization’s CEO. The schools and programs team ensures that programs are implemented in schools, organizes the various events associated with the programs and they are the point of direct contact with our teachers and students. The team that supports the management of associates and partnerships manages all the volunteers of the different companies and supports fundraising for the organization. This division of the team allows for greater monitoring and support of our different stakeholders.
Lithuanian Junior Achievement (LJA) is a non-governmental organization, a leader in economic education, financial literacy and entrepreneurship education programs in Lithuania. Each year, LJA’s programs reach about 20,000 students from over 350 schools, educated by over 500 Junior Achievement-trained teachers, and gain practical experience in 250+ mini companies created annually. Business leaders are involved in youth education through counselling, becoming mentors, and internship opportunities.
JA Lithuania is part of the global JA network. Lithuanian Junior Achievement (LJA) works with schools, local business and organisations to deliver experiential programs on the topics of financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship to students from 6-24 years age.
The mission of the LJA is to educate young in people of entrepreneursihp mindset, encourage them to acquire XXI century competences.