JA Stories From The Field
As the world economy slowly emerges from its deepest recession in 80 years, the focus has now turned to the future. What shape will the economic recovery take? Will it be a relatively quick V-shaped rebound? A slower U-shaped comeback? Or a more spiky W-shaped recovery? Only economic results over the coming months and years will answer that question for people and countries around the world.
Whether the shape of that ultimate recovery is a V, a U or a W, we know that two letters will be essential to the future of the world’s young people and its economy: JA.
This past year marked the 90th anniversary of JA. Starting with just a handful of students in 1919, JA’s reach now spans the globe with a wide variety of programs and learning experiences for young people between the ages of 5 and 25.
What shape will the economic recovery take?
During 2009, JA Worldwide operated in 123 countries around the world providing more than 9.7 million young people with an education in the core areas of work readiness, financial literacy and entrepreneurship. Each of these learning areas provides JA students with the entrepreneurial spirit, financial acumen and the “life skills” required for their personal development as well as for the development of their surrounding economies.
Despite its long and rich past, JA has always been about the future. We have consistently viewed young people as the key to stronger economies and have provided them with the tools, skills, ethical standards and, most importantly, the self-confidence to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others. As we look forward to the years ahead, we are proud of our past accomplishments but also recognize that our most important work lies in front of us.
The economic challenges of the past year affected not only businesses, individuals and governments but also JA operations around the world. Yet, despite the financial challenges posed by the global recession, JA Worldwide still experienced growth:
- Our student reach expanded by five percent with more than 9.7 million students educated in 2009—the most ever by JA Worldwide.
- Total classes in which JA programs were taught increased by three percent to 379,968.
These are impressive results in a daunting economic environment. However, given the large numbers of students around the world who do not have the benefit of a JA experience, we still have much to do.
The Generosity of Individuals, Businesses, Foundations and Governments
Little of JA’s success could be achieved without the unflagging generosity of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments around the world. All of these funders recognize the importance of preparing current-day students to take the reins of our economy in the future.
Likewise, they understand that empowered, work-ready and financially literate young people hold the key to economic prosperity in all corners of the world. Whether their support is financial in nature or volunteering in a classroom to teach one of our many programs, they make a difference in the lives of young people every day. In all, these funders provided over US $273 million to JA Worldwide and made available more than 330,000 volunteers who served in classrooms, on boards and in a variety of other capacities throughout JA. Their support and generosity is greatly appreciated.
The following pages give you a glimpse of JA’s impact throughout the world, but truly provide only a hint of the collective impact of our work. Each day, JA reaches students around the world in a personally transformative way. The vignettes in this report give you a flavor of our programs, their impact on young people and the generous donors who share our vision. Whether it’s working with a young person in Chicago, Moscow, Beijing, Asunción, Nairobi or Amman, JA makes a difference every day with someone.
As we expand the student impact of our programs around the world, we are also growing the population of a critical constituency with whom the organization needs to stay engaged—our alumni. These JA graduates are uniquely positioned to “give back” to the next generation through volunteerism, board engagement and financial support of JA and can be powerful ambassadors for the organization. In the pages that follow, you’ll read about two such ambassadors who have powerful personal and professional stories that connect deeply to JA (Jeremi and Ian Karnell).
This report is intended to both look back on the past year as well as forward into the future. As we have said, despite the many challenges the tenuous economy presented to us during the past year, we maintained a high degree of stability, ran more efficiently and continued to explore ways to increase our relevancy. In terms of that future, we are working aggressively to better leverage our global presence by:
- Accelerating the development of our regional capacity in Asia/Pacific, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East/North Africa.
- Expanding our global fundraising capacity in a manner consistent with our long-term strategies and goals.
- Developing a variety of technology-based delivery models that continue to ensure a relevant educational experience for students regardless of where they are in the world. Ensuring that we appropriately manage and steward the important financial and human resources that are given to u each year.
JA has been and always will be about the future. Young people are the world’s future, and JA’s focus is on preparing those young people for that future. We thank you for your support and look forward to working with you in building an organization for the next 90 years and beyond.
