Entrepreneurship Programs

The JA Entrepreneurship Pathway creates a continuum of progressive learning experiences, each inspiring, preparing, and ultimately enabling students to acquire the mindset and demonstrate the skills needed by successful entrepreneurs. This guided student journey will allow advancement from introductory experiences, to core programs, to deeply immersive opportunities, with each phase of development adding value and building capacity in the young people involved

Junior Achievement employs a pathways approach to teaching entrepreneurship to young people. By “pathways,” we mean that JA programs are designed to engage students on the subject over multiple grades, from their first day in kindergarten, throughout their K-12 years, preparing them for the transition to post-secondary education or work.

Junior Achievement takes this approach because, in many states, entrepreneurship is an elective option and, in numerous cases, is offered only as an extra-curricular activity for no school credit. Given that most of us will work for a small business at some time, and all of us interact with small businesses, we at Junior Achievement believe it’s important to offer programs that cover entrepreneurship and small business across multiple grade levels.

Our approach gives students the tools to increase their chances of starting or owning a business as adults. Research results include:

• 51 percent of JA Alumni say they have started or owned a business. According to Statista, 8.9 percent of Americans own businesses.

• 53 percent of Black JA Alumni and 67 percent of Hispanic/Latino Alumni say they have started or owned a business.

• 56 percent of JA Alumni who had a JA volunteer say they currently work or have in the past worked in the same field as their JA volunteer.

Learn more about JA program offerings for your school or community group by following the links below. Or you can request a program here.