May 2025 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

This week, I’m visiting JA Türkiye and writing to you from Istanbul, where the Bosphorus bridges not only continents, but also cultures and ideas. It’s a fitting place to reflect on JA’s impact on the world—especially at a time when geopolitical shifts make JA’s mission more important than ever.

I’m here to celebrate the 25th anniversary of JA Türkiye and the launch of the Turkish edition of Modern Achievement—called Modern Başarı—published in partnership with Kapital Media Group and JA Türkiye. This marks the first time the book is available in Turkish, and it coincides with similar launches in India and Romania earlier this month. These international editions are helping raise funds for the JA network and are supported by the time and investment of my co-author, Marshall Goldsmith, and the book’s celebrated illustrator and designer, Ayse Birsel. Ayse is Turkish, so this trip to meet the leadership of JA Türkiye, speak to JA’s young alumni who received copies of the book, and support the 25th anniversary gathering of supporters was personally meaningful for her.

Whether in Turkish, Romanian, or English, the message of Modern Achievement is the same: that achievement in today’s world must be rooted in purpose, values, and service to others. That spirit was on full display earlier this month when we honored JA University Chief Chancellor and longtime JA champion David Meltzer with the 2025 JA Legacy of Leadership Award.

David’s story is deeply intertwined with JA. From joining his first JA experience at age 12 to mentoring students and alumni through his Apple TV show 2 Minute Drill, David has shown what it means to persistently pursue one’s potential. His podcast, speaking tours, and philanthropic work have helped thousands of JA alumni gain visibility, funding, and confidence. As co-host of several Modern Achievement launch events, David has ensured that these gatherings have been more than celebrations—they’ve become opportunities to build momentum and donor support for JA’s mission.

The Legacy of Leadership Award recognizes individuals whose long-term commitment has strengthened the global impact of JA. David joins a distinguished list of honorees—including Patricia Francy, William Schawbel, and Dr. Walter Loewenstern—and reminds us that a legacy isn’t defined by titles, but by lives touched and opportunities created.

As I speak with students and supporters here in Türkiye, I’m reminded that JA’s greatest export is not a product or program. It’s a mindset, one that empowers young people to define success for themselves, build their own paths, and lead with purpose. Thanks to champions like David and the many volunteers and educators who bring JA to life in 100+ countries, that mindset is reaching farther than ever. And thank you for all you do to support JA’s mission.

With gratitude from Istanbul,

Asheesh

April 2025 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

As global headlines point increasingly toward fragmentation—rising nationalism, protectionism, and fractured multilateralism—many institutions are questioning whether global cooperation remains viable. At JA Worldwide and across the JA network, our lived experience tells a different story. We are not only surviving in this environment, we’re demonstrating that our style of global collaboration is thriving.

What we practice across the JA network is a form of “cooperative pluralism,” allowing us to celebrate each other’s differences with collaboration and shared purpose. Our approach to collective pluralism is realistic and practical because it embraces the diversity and autonomy of our network, while aligning around an important global vision: to help young people develop the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities.

We might also use other terms for our style of collective pluralism such as “aligned autonomy” (with JA members operating independently while using the fixed-flexible-freestyle framework to build alignment where it makes sense such as brand, data reporting, impact measurement, and technology) or “distributed leadership” (with ideas coming from everywhere in the network, not just from JA Worldwide or regional operating centers). When McKinsey.org started helping us with our strategic planning, it became clear that this model of collective pluralism is a key strategic advantage:

• It allows us to stay resilient in the face of local or regional challenges.

• It keeps us relevant as a blueprint for how organizations can function in a multipolar world.

• It helps us remain trusted by partners, because we listen, adapt, and lead together.

As McKinsey reflected on our previous strategic plans, they were impressed by the foundation we’ve been building for this model through three strategic phases . . . and are now starting to plan activities for the fourth strategic phase:

2017–2019: Network Alignment
We laid the groundwork for a shared identity by launching the OneJA website, aligning on our theory of change, and co-creating the Fixed-Flexible-Freestyle framework. We celebrated JA’s Centennial, earned a Top Ten global NGO ranking, and achieved 100% global commitment to a unified Member Agreement from JA boards and leaders in over 100 countries.

2020–2022: Network Collaboration
We leaned into collaboration with the introduction of the Inspire-Prepare-Succeed framework and new global communities—working groups, town halls, and the virtual GLC. JA’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize during this period was a powerful recognition of our shared impact.

2023–2025: Strengthen OneJA
We set a bold aspiration: 100 million student learning experiences annually by 2050. We modernized the JA brand across all entities, enhanced the Member Agreement with risk and IP guidelines, launched JA GO (Global Orientation) and the Youth Voices initiative, and sharpened our narrative around economic empowerment and peace.

2026–2028: OneJA Foundation
We are now entering a new phase: embedding the foundation of OneJA. This will include establishing a global outcomes framework based on our values, leveraging AI for operational intelligence, launching OneJA 2.0, deepening fundraising collaboration, and modernizing learning experiences through new technologies. We will also launch a global board orientation to align governance and purpose.

Each of these milestones reflects our belief in distributed leadership, shared purpose, and mutual accountability. Together, we are able to show the world that collective pluralism can still be unified, that empowered interdependence is not a contradiction but a superpower.

As we scale toward our 2050 goal, our governance structure, our strategy, and—most importantly—our trust in each other will continue to be our greatest assets. Let’s continue to champion this model, not just as our internal way of working, but as a bold statement about how the world can work.

Until next time,

Asheesh

March 2025 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

As we continue to navigate a world filled with challenges and change, the theme of resilience remains central to the work we do at JA Worldwide. This year, I have been continually inspired by the resilience demonstrated by JA staff, our partners and sponsors, and the young people I meet through our JA student learning experiences.

I want to start by celebrating the remarkable milestones achieved across our six regions. In the face of significant challenges and headwinds, we’ve seen a 15% increase in student learning experiences year-over-year and a substantial increase in revenue (100%+ growth in all six regions) starting in 2021 and continuing through 2024. This growth is a testament to the dedication and adaptability of our teams who have persevered through wars, conflicts, extended school closures, legal challenges on civil society, polarization, cyber attacks, and a multitude of other risk factors that impact our work. JA is making a unique impact on the world: building a culture of philanthropy in every nation and community in which we work. This culture of giving and paying-it-forward to the next generation is essential to our success.

As we complete the final year of our FY23–25 strategic plan, our collective aspiration to exceed 20 million student learning experiences by June 2025 is on schedule. In addition, we are improving our ability to track and measure the outcomes of JA’s interventions, preparing youth for employment and entrepreneurship.

The resilience of our network is also reflected in some groundbreaking initiatives that have recently launched. In MENA, INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA has partnered with Starbucks to launch the EmpowerME program. This exciting initiative will provide thousands of young people across the region with the opportunity to develop vital skills and gain work experience.

In the United States, JA USA is reimagining a long-standing tradition with the transformation of Take Your Son or Daughter to Work Day into Take a Child to Work Day and Beyond, in partnership with Staples, Inc. This initiative, which encourages families to engage with the world of work, highlights the importance of resilience in the face of evolving workplace dynamics and the changing landscape of education. As this is the first year that JA has assumed leadership of this important day, mark your calendar for April 24, 2025. I can’t wait to see it inspire more families as it spreads everywhere.

From JA Africa, the launch of the 10 Million African Girls (10MAG) initiative further underscores the power of resilience, with enormous scale and impact. This ambitious program, aimed—as the name implies—at empowering 10 million African girls by 2050, represents a commitment to breaking barriers and ensuring that every girl has the opportunity to embrace leadership and entrepreneurship. Launched on International Women's Day, 10MAG is has been in the works for many months, fueled the passion of Simi Nwogugu, CEO of JA Africa. It is fully aligned with JA Worldwide’s strategic goals, was presented at the last JA Worldwide Board of Governors meeting, and has the support of the JA Africa board and ROC team to make this dream a reality. Having met some of the young girls who attended LEAD camp, which culminated in the launch event for 10MAG this month, I can personally attest to the impact that this initiative has on the lives of young girls, who come to see themselves as leaders and agents of change. This is not only important for Africa but for the world. (As evidence, see the chart below to witness the youth population forecasts for the next few years). My hope is that more JA staff members and board members have the opportunity to see the impact of 10MAG and collaborate with JA Africa on this important initiative.

My recent visit to Tokyo, Japan, for the JA Asia Pacific Company of the Year (COY) competition was yet another reminder of the extraordinary resilience of young people. The high school entrepreneurs I met from across the Asia Pacific region demonstrated incredible adaptability, innovation, and collaboration as they navigated the challenges of building businesses in a rapidly changing world. More than 90% of the students had designed products or business models with sustainability in mind, further highlighting the growing role of climate resilience in the entrepreneurial spirit of the next generation. Year after year, I have seen the proportion of student entrepreneurs with sustainable businesses grow.

As we look to the future, the resilience of the JA network and the youth that we serve is a source of great hope, particularly as the world grapples with change. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our mission.

Until next time,

Asheesh

February 2025 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

With so much change happening in the world, the work of JA is even more relevant, ensuring that educational and economic empowerment for the next generation brings peace and prosperity to all communities. In our recent Board of Governors meeting for JA Worldwide, I shared information and insights with board members and regional leaders from the JA network, from the analysis of data submitted by JA members. JA Worldwide collects data from member locations on an annual basis. We collaborate closely with our regional operating centers in the tabulation and quality control of data. Four years ago, we transitioned the network to JADE (JA Data Experience), which uses Microsoft Azure and PowerBI for data analysis and visualization. The transition has been a team effort, with countries and ROCs undergoing JADE training as they also develop policies for collecting and categorizing the data.

During FY24, JA increased our reach across multiple segments of student learning experiences.

In the final year of our three-year strategic plan, and it is heartening to see that our collective aspiration to exceed 20 million student learning experiences by FY25 is well within reach. We have a strong culture of growth across all six regions which is spurring these numbers. In the survey of JA board members and staff conducted by McKinsey in the last few months, growth in student learning experiences is the most-cited priority for the vast majority of JA boards and staff across JA, with over 75% of board members ranking growth in student learning experiences as one the ways that the board measures performance. (In all six regions, over 70% of board members and staff cited it as important.)

In FY24, the JA network delivered 19.9 million student learning experiences, increasing from 17.3 million in FY23. Figures 1 and 2 provide the regional breakdown, including the segmentation of student learning experiences by depth of impact.

Figure 1: Growth in Student Learning Experiences, FY24 and FY23

The growth in total student learning experiences represented an increase of 15% from FY23 to FY24. We attribute the growth to:

• More revenue raised and deployed by the JA network (described below and shown in Figure 7)

• Deeper partnerships with Ministries of Education and other government stakeholders providing access to schools

• Continued growth in digital programs delivered to students

Approximately 1.9 million, or 9%, of total student learning experiences are now delivered directly to students (direct channel) rather than via schools or universities (indirect channel), which represents channel diversification for JA that was a necessity during the pandemic and has continued to expand.

JA member locations in roughly 90 countries have formal relationships with government agencies, such as Ministries of Education or Workforce Development, that provide access to students and youth in a scalable manner.

JA Worldwide uses the Inspire-Prepare-Succeed (IPS) framework to provide a segmentation tool for the JA network. This framework categorizes learning experiences by depth of impact. Introduced in 2021, the IPS framework provides greater visibility and transparency for all stakeholders with the following categories:

• Inspire experiences are introductory learning experiences that pique a student’s interest. Examples include student interactions, such as joining an online challenge or a session with a motivational speaker. Another example is an exploratory session about careers using a digital app.

• Prepare experiences make a deeper impact, with stated and measurable learning objectives and a curriculum. Student learning is assessed, and course completion is tracked. Examples include the JA Company Program for high-school students and JA Economics for Success for middle-school students.

• Succeed experiences demonstrate mastery of competences in real-world situations. Typically, these are experiences that are built on JA learning experiences —for example, earning the Entrepreneurial Skills Pass (ESP) micro-credential after completing the JA Company Program, benefitting from the 3DE curriculum in selected US schools, participating in a culminating competition, or launching a start-up. Succeed learning experiences also include JA alumni returning to mentor student companies or serving as speakers at job fairs or trade shows.

JA Worldwide introduced the Impact Score as a KPI to help ensure that growth is impact-focused for member locations.

The ongoing dialogue among board members and among JA staff teams on how to balance learning-experience quantity and quality—and how to measure impact for diverse types of student learning experiences—is not unusual among not-for-profit organizations. At JA Worldwide, this challenge is exacerbated by our operating in over 100 countries with different regional/national/local needs and methodologies for delivering programs. For example, YouTube is considered entertainment in some countries and a primary source of educational content in other countries. Reaching underserved youth is also defined quite differently in the United States, Zimbabwe, and Yemen.

To help address these complex matters of measurement, JA Worldwide introduced the Impact Score in 2023 after piloting it during our last strategic plan. The Impact Score has fixed, flexible, and freestyle elements that align to strategic priorities and shared impact measurement beliefs. A cross-functional team from all six ROCs collaborated on determining the specific scoring elements of the Impact Score.

Three core performance areas are built into the Impact Score (scored out of 100 points):

• Learning Experiences Mix (scored out of 50 points)

• Reach and Impact (scored out of 30 points)

• Implementation (scored out of 20 points)

The intent is to encourage JA offices to continuously reflect on what drives impact and ensure that they are doing whatever they can to improve impact outcomes from year to year. For example, under Learning Experience Mix, we reward deeper student experiences as measured by the Prepare and Succeed categories; under Reach and Impact, we reward alumni tracking and evidence of impact monitoring and evaluation assessments; and under Implementation, we reward sustainable growth through robust partnerships with the educational ecosystem, as well as effective use of digital delivery channels. See Figure 2.

Figure 2: Impact Score Elements

We fully expect to update and modify the methodology for calculating the Impact Score as we learn more. Our intention is to align the Impact Score update cycle to the three-year strategic-planning cycle, so that we have a mechanism for using KPIs and measurement to implement strategic priorities. For example, if our strategic objective were to shift focus on, say, internships and job placement for youth, our metrics in the Impact Score could be modified to provide more points for these types of learning experiences.

Figure 3 provides a snapshot of the proportion of countries in each region that were able to increase impact or remain at the same level. Last year, 57% of members maintained or increased their Impact Score, while this year it is 41%.

Figure 3: Regional Metrics for Impact Score in FY24 vs. FY23

As we see in Figure 4, the overall average Impact Score by region decreased from 67 last year to 60 this year. Africa has shown strong growth and, at the same time, 89% of African members maintained or increased their Impact Score. We believe several factors led to a decrease in Impact Scores in other regions:

• Outsized growth in Inspire experiences: The Impact Score favors Prepare and Succeed experiences, given that these drive greater impact outcomes. If the proportion of Inspire is too large, comparatively, the Impact Score goes down (42 members show a percentage of Inspire that is over 35% of their total student reach). 

• Reduction in digital/blended learning experiences: Five of six regions (the exception was Africa) reduced the proportion of digital/blended learning experiences delivered (coming out of the post-pandemic years), which also decreases the Impact Score since growing the digital channel was rewarded in the score calculation.

Figure 4: Impact Score Average by Region (Current Year vs Previous Year)

Consistent with our Strategic Plan priorities for 2023–2025, we have started to measure the percentage of student learning experiences for underserved youth populations, despite its complexity.

One of our four strategic priorities is to empower the underserved. As the saying goes, “what gets measured, gets done,” so we have embarked on the complex process of measuring the percentage of JA’s student learning experiences reaching underserved youth. We have implemented a fixed, flexible, freestyle approach to bring the network along with us with the following definitions.

• The fixed element, developed in collaboration with Accenture Development Partners as part of our strategic-planning exercise and presented to the Board of Governors, includes the following elements: (1) World Bank data to categorize nations, which is updated annually and accepted as a global standard; (2) for the World Bank’s “high income nations” (e.g. US, Bahrain, France) and “upper middle-income nations” (e.g. Mexico, Turkey, Botswana), we define underserved as those with below-median levels of access and outcomes for education and livelihoods; and (3) we include youth living in the World Bank’s “lower middle income nations” (e.g. Nigeria, El Salvador, Pakistan) and “low-income nations” (e.g., Yemen, DRC) as underserved.

• The flexible elements and freestyle elements allow the regions and members to determine which students fall into these categories. For example, in Canada, federal data shows that the indigenous population has experienced below-median outcomes for educational opportunities and livelihoods. As a result, JA Canada may elect to include programs targeting indigenous youth in its definition of underserved.

We estimate that the network delivered 6.3 million student learning experiences to underserved youth in FY 24. This estimate is based on three data elements: (1) 86% of our members have indicated that they have specifically targeted underserved groups and described the types of learning experiences they are providing, adding up to approximately 5.9 million student learning experiences (for example, JA USA estimates that 53.9% of student learning experiences are in Title I schools in the US); (2) 18 countries in which JA operates are classified by the World Bank as “low income nations” or “lower middle income nations”; and (3) for the few members from “high income nations” and “upper middle income nations” that have not provided estimates of reaching underserved youth, we make a conservative estimate that approximately 20% (or 0.33 million) of their student learning experiences are to underserved youth using our definitions noted above. In future years, we expect to refine and improve this methodology and continue to build data analytics capabilities for the JA network.

For most regions, growth was broad-based rather than concentrated in a few nations. The majority of JA members experienced growth rather than decline in student learning experiences from FY23 to FY24.

During FY24, JA’s growth was broad-based in most regions. Figure 5 shows the percentage of members in each region which experienced growth rather than decline in total learning experiences (excluding any inactive members). With the exception of the MENA region, which had several member nations impacted by the war and economic challenges, all other regions saw the majority of members experiencing growth in student learning experiences from FY23 to FY24, averaging 72% globally for the JA network.

Figure 5: Regional Trends for Growth in FY24

During FY24, JA’s learning experiences delivered in elementary schools finally recovered to the levels we experienced before the pandemic.

In 2021, as a result of school closures and limited vaccine rollout for younger students, reaching youth in elementary schools proved more difficult than reaching youth over the age of 13. However, since the pandemic, the proportion of JA’s total learning experience delivered in elementary schools has recovered from 27% to 42%–43%, which is the same proportion of JA’s total as it was in FY17. Figure 6 summarizes the regional trend data over seven years, comparing FY23 and FY24 data on “Prepare” student experiences to FY17 program distribution on student enrollments.

In past years, we had expected that JA’s distribution would shift to older students and youth. However, in both 2023 and 2024, we noticed that JA’s funders, partners, and staff—particularly in Asia-Pacific and the United States—reinvigorated their efforts to target elementary schools. In Asia Pacific, for example, Prudence Foundation increased its support of the highly popular Cha-Ching Curriculum (financial health) in several markets. In the USA, the numbers of students at those grade levels have recovered to pre-pandemic levels and important investments are now underway across their portfolio for younger age levels (content upgrades focused on character development for example as well as more digital resources).

Figure 6: Age Distribution Trend, FY2017, FY2023, and FY2024

JA’s revenue grew substantially in FY24, continuing the trend for the last few years.

Total revenue collected by the JA network increased substantially over the last few years, from $332 million in FY21 to $512 million in FY24, which represents the highest revenue year in JA history. Figure 7 shows revenue growth on an annual basis, including average revenue for the period of 2017–2021 before we introduced JADE for member reporting (although we were still collecting data using a similar system with fewer analytics capabilities). Going back to 2017, when we launched the three-year strategic plan cycles, total revenue growth has been 152% on average for the entire JA network. Most importantly, the growth has been broad-based with all six regions showing substantial double-digit growth, as shown in Figure 8. Since the pandemic and recovery from 2021 until now, growth has also been broad-based, with revenue growth in all regions averaging 157%.

Figure 7: Revenue Growth, FY2024/FY2017

Given that data metrics are reported by member locations and ROCs using different school-year and fiscal-year timeframes, and then aggregated globally, it is most accurate to use this data for multi-year trends. For example, some JA members have fiscal years ending in June, while others do not. Some JA members collect data from sub-national offices which creates a delay on data aggregation. Since the methodology of data collection is consistent year-over-year (same fiscal years, same delays for aggregation), the trend data is quite useful for analysis.

Figure 8: Revenue Comparison by Region, FY2024/FY2021 and FY2024/FY2017

As JA has now developed deeper expertise in delivering educational content in digital formats and in lower-cost channels and geographies, JA’s cost per student experience has decreased steadily over the last few years. On a fully loaded basis (including total expenses of the member countries, ROCs, and JA Worldwide), the total cost per student dropped from ~$30 on average between 2017 and 2020 to ~$21 on average between 2021 and 2024. (Since data is aggregated globally, it is challenging to disentangle all instances of intra-network transfers for passthrough funding and fees despite best efforts. Therefore, this cost per student learning experience metric should be regarded as an estimate.) One key takeaway is that these data metrics continue a long-term decreasing trend in cost per student due to the competitive environment for funding, more digital delivery mechanisms, and a desire for scale in philanthropy, particularly in emerging markets and less developed countries where the youth population is growing.

JA Worldwide has recently initiated a project for cohort analysis using AI tools to understand cost per student segmented by categories of learning experiences (Inspire, Prepare, Succeed) and categories by clusters of similar countries. This analysis is intended to provide additional actionable insights for the JA network.

As we have done in previous years, JA Worldwide and the entire JA network should take a moment to appreciate that we are fortunate to have both increased total revenue and the number of total student learning experiences coming out of the pandemic period. Not all organizations have been this fortunate.

Overall, the JA network has seen a stabilization in the number of staff (approximately 3,600) which is consistent for FY23 and FY24. No region had a substantial increase in total staff year over year, leading us to conclude that the growth in revenue and growth in student learning experiences is driven by partnerships. Direct-to-student delivery options and technology platforms—led at the regional level, rather than just at the national/local level—are on the rise and an important entry to underserved geographies where we do not have member operations.

Figure 9: Regional staff count and metrics, FY24

Figure 9 provides detailed metrics for each region and for HQ and the six ROCs for comparison—and notes the approximate number of separate entities in each region (as some nations have separate sub-national offices for each province such as Canada). Some key conclusions:

• JA is a network of teams. Each team is quite small (averaging just 11 FTEs per entity) and works closely with teachers and volunteers to serve youth.

• Although total revenue for the JA network exceeded $500 million for the first time in our history, our average revenue per entity is small in each region, particularly when converted into USD and looked at from the perspective of US-based non-profit organizations. While some JA members may be among the largest youth-serving non-profit organizations in their countries, the entities are likely to have revenues of less than $1 million in all regions outside the US.

• The JA Member Agreement explicitly states that we should maintain an entrepreneurial rather than bureaucratic approach to overseeing our network. This data shows that imposing new rules or unfunded obligations on network members could backfire, given the small budgets and staff count in each entity. Our continued success will come from collaboration across borders and across regions.

Conclusion

Better data will lead to better outcomes. With the launch of The JA Institute and our shift from impact measurement to impact intelligence, we’ll leverage JADE data alongside generative AI to do more research and advanced analytics. To inform what influences our outcomes and impact, as well as our strategic direction, we’re working closely with the ROCs and JA members to identify many more factors in combination, both external and internal.  This will enable us to strengthen ourselves internally, build resilience, and improve our readiness to respond to challenges and pursue opportunities, all of which are essential to sustaining our growth and achieving our goal to deliver 100 million student learning experiences per year by 2050.

Until next time,
Asheesh

January 2025 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

This week, the World Economic Forum released its Future of Jobs Report 2025, offering a clear and data-driven look at the shifts in the global economy and the opportunities and challenges ahead for young people. As I read through the report, I was struck by how well it underscores the importance of JA’s mission and the work we do together to equip youth with the skills they need to thrive in an evolving job market.

By 2030, the report predicts a net gain of 78 million jobs globally—170 million new roles will emerge, while 92 million will be displaced. These transformations highlight the critical need for developing foundational skills, such as self-efficacy, which are emphasized in the report and are at the heart of JA’s approach. More specifically, the two charts below demonstrate how the category of skills identified as self-efficacy are increasingly important for young people to learn:

This week, I’ve joined JA leaders, board members, and alumni in Davos to engage with other global leaders about the Future of Jobs report and how sectors can work together to bridge the skills gap. Among those representing JA are Ana Martiningui, Bhakti Vithalani, Cid Wilson, Diana Filip, Fiona Macaulay, Francesco Vanni d'Archirafi, Jonas Prising, Julie Teigland, Laurence Morvan, Leo Martellotto, Salvatore Nigro, Simi Nwogugu, and Valérie Urbain. Their leadership and expertise will be key as we explore how JA’s work fits into broader global efforts to prepare young people for the future.

For the last few years, I’ve had the pleasure of serving on the World Economic Forum’s stewardship board of the Center for New Economy and Society, which is involved in producing this report on a regular cadence. The consistently high quality of the work produced by WEF is due to the research teams that work behind-the-scenes to collect and analyze the information that informs the insights in the report. Evidence-based decision-making for public sector, private sector, and social sector leaders is not possible without such data. Much gratitude to Saadia Zahidi and the entire WEF team for sharing this with the world.

Thank you for your continued commitment to empowering young people. Together, we’re shaping a future where education leads to peace, prosperity, and opportunities for all.

Until next time,
Asheesh

November 2024 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

I recently sent an email to all my colleagues at JA Worldwide asking for feedback and got responses almost immediately. I used the popular format called “Start-Stop-Continue,” requesting input for behaviors my colleagues would like me to start doing, stop doing, or continue doing. I really like this way of getting feedback because it is direct and creates a safe (and easy) way for people to tell me how I can help make their jobs easier. After I sent the email, I received great feedback immediately from one person on my team, who asked me to start providing updates on what I was learning from the board meetings that I attend around the JA network. This is a great suggestion.

In my role, I spend a lot of time in board meetings. For example, I attend board meetings not just for JA Worldwide but for all six regional operating centers, including JA Africa, JA Americas, JA Asia Pacific, JA Europe, INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA, and Junior Achievement USA, and I am sometimes asked to attend additional board meetings for JA member locations, charters, US areas, and other local entities. Although I sometimes complain to my family that I spend too much time in all these meetings, it does give me a helpful perspective on JA that I can share with others. Last week, I attended board meetings for both JA Europe and INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA, both of which were well attended meetings because they were scheduled in parallel with other large events. The JA Europe board meeting was on the same day as the Annual General Assembly (AGA), which is an essential part of JA Europe’s governance: an event in which all the national board chairs and CEOs/EDs come together once per year. It’s a gathering of some of the best leaders from education and business in the world, all with a shared passion for education and for inspiring and preparing youth.

JA Europe has grown substantially over the last two years and is now managing 70+ projects across the region. The CEO of JA Europe, Salvatore Nigro, and members of the JA Europe senior leadership team presented to the board the rapid growth this year in student impact in all dimensions of Inspire, Prepare, and Succeed (our framework for measuring the depth of student engagement), and are well ahead of their original targets of 10% per year growth. Much of the board discussion was about how to manage this growth and work collaboratively with JA local teams. We also discussed impact measurement and how to build resilience and risk management in our culture. I also presented on the progress that we are making on building a OneJA culture, with common onboarding for all JA staff across the entire network and popular staff development programs such as JA Fellows.

Last year, JA Europe elected its first female chair—Laurence Morvan—and JA Worldwide has done the same this year with the election of Karen Reddington as Chair of the Board of Governors. In Brussels at the AGA, with both Laurence and Karen in attendance, there was a moment of reflection and recognition that we are making progress on bringing more gender diversity to our board leadership, but that we have further to go. Our long-term goal is to build JA boards to reflect the populations we serve on a wide range of dimensions, including gender, race, geography, and to ensure more active representation from alumni, members of the network, and youth. JA is one of the best networks in the world for balancing the interests of multiple stakeholders, so we are “pleased but not satisfied” as the saying goes on our progress.

During the gala dinner that followed the day of meetings, JA Europe attracted several European leaders from government, parliament, and business. The keynote speaker was Valdis Dombrovskis, the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, who published his speech for JA on the European Commission website.

One day later, I was in Dubai for the INJAZ Al-Arab board meeting, which was scheduled in conjunction with the Youth Entrepreneurship Celebration—the marquis student entrepreneurship competition for high school students and college students. Over the last two years, the event has included a day in which we mix and match the participants from different countries to allow young people from countries across the Middle East and North Africa to form teams to compete and collaborate with each other. This is one of the most impactful parts of the experience and fosters more cross-cultural understanding and fellowship. We also do this in Asia Pacific for the International Trade Challenge and in other events that bring youth together from across borders and cultures. The world needs this more than ever, and we have heard loud and clear on youthvoices.org that our alumni remember these international experiences as among the most formative and impactful parts of their JA journeys.

Akef Aqrabawi, the CEO of INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA, presented the latest results to the board showing substantial growth in fiscal year 2024, particularly in the Prepare category, which this year grew 40% over last year, and also shared that the ROC had received its largest grant in its history this year. Congratulations to the team! Despite the challenges due to war in the region and economic challenges in many countries, we continue to serve MENA youth.

Prior to these meetings in Brussels and Dubai, JA Worldwide convened the Board of Governors (the global board) in London on November 7 and 8. Our board meeting coincided with the release of the Young Enterprise (JA UK) “Transforming Futures” initiative, with launch events at the House of Commons and a board dinner hosted at the House of Lords. Wow! We met so many supporters of Young Enterprise (with locations in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Gibraltar), and watched as Young Enterprise alumni took the stage to tell stories of how their futures were transformed by the work we do.

At our board meeting the next day, we held a strategy session as a kickoff to our 2026–2028 strategic plan, as our current plan expires at the end of June. McKinsey hosted the board meeting and is our partner to conduct broad stakeholder consultation to ensure that we’re developing our strategy in a manner that includes the perspectives of all of key stakeholders, including the members of the JA network. We’ll launch an online survey in the coming weeks and will be sharing that with board chairs of each JA member, regional board members, staff leaders from all JA member locations and ROCs, and many others. We’re fortunate to have McKinsey as a substantial partner, offering their services pro-bono to JA Worldwide and to many JA members around the network to ensure that our work is impactful to local needs while also aligned to the vision and mission of JA. 

One of the benefits of asking for feedback is that it helps you find your blind spots. I’m very grateful that I asked my colleagues for start-stop-continue feedback because I would have forgotten to tell you about these board meetings in London, Brussels, and Dubai. I hope you found this helpful. If you need me to share insights about something else, let me know.

Until next time,
Asheesh

October 2024 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

One of the most fulfilling things we do as leaders is recognize the contributions of exceptional people—especially volunteers who have helped JA to thrive. Earlier this month, while attending a launch party for Modern Achievement in Los Angeles, I had the privilege of making a speech to recognize the legacy of Walter Loewenstern, who has been active in JA for over 40 years. “JA is America’s greatest export,” Walter said in accepting the JA Legacy of Leadership award, which honors those who have dedicated their lives to making JA what it is today.

When Walter delivered these remarks to a packed room of guests, his voice cracked with emotion and everyone in the room felt the words sink in: “JA is America’s greatest export.” It’s a powerful sentiment that speaks volumes about the impact of JA not only on changing the lives of individuals but also on changing communities and nations. Walter was born in Houston, Texas, and served in the U.S. Navy as an officer in the Civil Engineering Corps. Later in his career, he and three other engineers founded ROLM Corporation, which grew to become a Fortune 500 company by manufacturing and selling computerized telephone exchanges. In 1984, IBM bought the ROLM Corporation, and Walter retired from the company four years later. He first volunteered with JA to teach classes in schools in California, served for several terms on the board of JA in Santa Clara, and subsequently joined the board of JA Worldwide. He then helped JA expand to former Eastern Bloc countries (including Russia, where Walter traveled to with JA to translate our educational materials) and saw firsthand the impact of JA’s learning experiences on young people who were eager to learn about business. Walter remained involved in funding the international expansion of JA and joined the Global Council of JA Worldwide when it was established in 2016. Even in his 80s, Walter remains committed to JA by volunteering to serving on judging panels to assess student entrepreneurs whenever he is asked.

During my remarks, I had a chance to glance over at Walter’s spouse, Karen. She was beaming with pride . . . and then told me after the speech how meaningful it was for her husband to volunteer with JA. It’s moments like these that make me feel so grateful that JA is able to attract such exceptional people to devote their time and talent to the organization. Thank you, Walter and Karen, for everything that you have done for JA.

My book tour since the launch of Modern Achievement has provided an opportunity to host events in New York and Boston (as well as the one in LA) and attract invitations to speak at events all over the world, bringing new supporters and friends to JA. I am very grateful to David Meltzer, in particular, for serving as co-host for many of these events. David is a JA alumnus who is an entrepreneur, author, and host of TV shows that have featured many JA student entrepreneurs. David kindly offered to co-host launch events for Modern Achievement, so that we could raise funds for JA rather than just having launch parties. Never waste an opportunity to garner support for JA!  

For example, at the New York launch event earlier this month, I had a chance to reconnect with Shahrik Punja, an associate at BlackRock, who delivered a passionate speech about why he volunteers with JA of New York and what lessons he has learned from the book. I actually met Shahrik through Sanyin Siang at Duke University, who not only contributed to Modern Achievement (a popular section entitled “Planning for Serendipity”) but also has become a huge fan of JA. Thanks to Sanyin, I was able to connect Shahrik with another JA champion: Phil Evans, a BlackRock executive who has served on the JA Worldwide Board of Governors for more than seven years. The JA network is powered by volunteers and JA champions like Shahrik, Sanyin, Phil, David, and Walter.

Writing this book is one of the hardest tasks I’ve ever taken on, but given the connectivity and exposure for JA that it has generated, it has been worth every second. I am particularly grateful to members of the JA Worldwide Board of Governors and Global Council who have hosted events or invited me to speak at gatherings that they are organizing. There are many more to come in the next few months. And I’m looking forward to recognizing the contributions of great JA volunteers and champions like Walter Loewenstern and David Meltzer in the months ahead.

Until next time,
Asheesh

September 2024 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

This week is among the busiest of the year. I’m writing this note from New York City, where JA has gathered for UN General Assembly events, including a new “Summit of the Future” and several meetings with some of our largest partners and supporters.

UN Secretary General António Guterres originally called for the Summit of the Future to set a course for international cooperation and to adopt the Pact for the Future. This document—which was adopted by UN member countries over the weekend—offers a roadmap for tackling the greatest threats facing the world, and especially facing global youth. JA Worldwide is honored to be here for the Summit’s Action Days, since we believe that actions will matter more than declarations to build a more prosperous and peaceful world.

We’re particularly busy this week because this global event is attended by most of our largest partners, and we’re using this opportunity to meet, align our strategies, and deepen our collaborative partnerships. In addition, we’re also partnering to participate in and host UNGA side events with members of our Board of Governors. We’re especially excited to host two panels:

• Youth Voices: Conversations about the Future of Work—Junior Achievement of New York and JA Worldwide have organized a conversation with young people and senior corporate executives.  These young people will ask questions of the executives to encourage discussion of how companies are gearing up for the workplace of the future, with topics ranging from gender equality to sustainability.

• Creating Inclusive Funding Opportunities for Young Entrepreneurs—Z Zurich Foundation and JA Worldwide are co-hosting a panel to discuss how to help young entrepreneurs have greater access to funding for their start-up ventures.  

This visit to New York comes on the heels of several days in Montreal where, thanks to the generous support of the Z Zurich Foundation (ZZF), we were invited onto the main stage at One Young World (OYW)—during International Day of Peace—for a conversation with Gary Shaughnessy, the Chair of ZZF. The OYW Summit is one of the world’s most impactful youth leadership events, bringing together 2,000 young entrepreneurs and changemakers. Our colleague, Miriam McIntosh of JA of New Mexico (USA), spoke passionately about the impact of JA's work to empower underserved and indigenousness youth, while I highlighted the connection between economic opportunity for youth, prosperity, and peace. With a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a prime minister, and a queen on stage before and after us, we were reminded of what an honor it was to represent JA on this platform! We met many JA alumni and JA volunteers at the event and we hope to deepen the partnership with One Young World.

For me, the power of coming to UNGA after experiencing both the JA Alumni Summit and the OYW Summit is that it empowers me to speak with more urgency and intention. After hearing the views of young leaders about the pace of change, it reminds me that JA has a unique ability to bring youth to the table at influential events to inform the agenda. It is imperative that we continue to use our scale and influence to lift up youth voices and the issues they care about the most.

Later this week, while my JA colleagues stay in New York, I’ll be channeling this energy at the JA Americas board meeting in México City, in conjunction with the JA Americas Leadership Summit. It might sound exhausting to be in the three cities in one week, but each of these events involve JA leaders, JA partners, and young people who are grateful for the work that we do. What could be better than that?

Until next time,
Asheesh

July/August 2024 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

It has been an energizing few weeks at JA Worldwide. Our new fiscal year has just started, and the school year is about to begin in many parts of the world. In addition, I’m excited to tell you more about a project that is near and dear to my heart: Modern Achievement, a book I wrote with Marshall Goldsmith to help the next generation of leaders define achievement on their own terms. It launched officially this week and, amazingly, has already reached #1 in several categories on Amazon!

I’m happy to share some behind-the-scenes context and answer frequently asked questions about the project.

1.  Why did I write Modern Achievement and what is the book about?
   
   I wrote Modern Achievement with Marshall Goldsmith because we recognized that most books about achievement are outdated. Today’s graduates will have on average more than 20 different jobs and at least seven different careers during their professional lives, requiring us to rethink the way we consider long-term goal setting and educational achievement. (Not everyone will switch jobs and careers that often, but it will happen to most people for the foreseeable future.) Traditional achievement books that focus on goal setting miss the point that aspiring leaders should have multiple goals, be able to pivot, and enjoy the journey of achievement rather than just long-term goal attainment. Our goal was to provide highly practical lessons by asking young achievers, established leaders, and the world’s top leadership coaches about their own achievement journeys.
   

2. Who is Marshall Goldsmith?
   
   Marshall is a world-renowned executive coach and leadership expert, widely regarded as one of the most influential voices in business education and personal development. With a career spanning several decades, Marshall has coached top leaders across the globe and authored multiple best-selling books, including What Got You Here Won’t Get You There and The Earned Life. Marshall is also a generous supporter of Junior Achievement in multiple ways, serving as one of the Founding Chancellors of JA University for staff development, providing his services pro-bono as a keynote speaker at the JA Global Leadership Conference, offering JA staff access to leadership coaching services from his acclaimed 100 Coaches community, and donating all the proceeds from Modern Achievement to JA!
   

3. Why are we donating the proceeds to JA?
   
   Marshall and I decided from the start that we would donate book proceeds to JA. For me, it seemed like the right thing to do given my role as CEO of JA Worldwide. Marshall wanted to help young people and was always motivated by this goal first and foremost. When we asked Ayse Birsel, the award-winning designer, to illustrate the book—and she said “yes” shortly after speaking at JA Global Leadership Conference in Bangkok, where she fell in love with JA’s mission and energy— she also agreed to donate the book proceeds to JA and joined Marshall in his philanthropic commitment.

   One of the side benefits of making this a pay-it-forward charitable endeavor for young leaders is that we have been able to attract global support: Dr. Jim Kim (12th President of the World Bank), Davido (international Grammy nominated pop star from Nigeria), and many other celebrities from around the world who are now learning about JA. It’s always energizing and inspirational to see the generosity of people!

4. Who is the audience for Modern Achievement?
   
   Modern Achievement was written for aspiring leaders between the ages of 18 and 35. However, we have learned that people of all ages are finding the lessons in the book to be engaging and practical. For example, one of the members of the JA Worldwide Board of Governors, Zabeen Hirji, recently wrote a post about how she is finding valuable advice from Modern Achievement in her “purposeful third act.” The interviewer from Forbes.com who wrote an article about the book felt the same.

   Stacie Fieth from JA Worldwide’s education team is also ensuring that younger audiences (ages 16–18) in high school will have access to the concepts in the book through a free workbook for students, classroom teachers, and facilitators (coming soon).
   

5. Will we have editions of the book in foreign languages?
   
   Yes, we are planning to release Modern Achievement in multiple languages to ensure that its message reaches a global audience. Understanding that the challenges and opportunities we discuss are universal, we want to make the concepts in the book accessible to readers in various regions and cultures. Translations take time, so in the meantime, Amazon has made the book available all over the world on its multiple national websites. I am still reeling from the nice surprise that the book was ranked as a Top New Release by Amazon and that the Kindle edition (available internationally) was ranked at or near the top of its category rankings in countries as far apart as the UK and India.
   

As exciting as August has been, next month, we’re set to travel to New York City during the week of the UN General Assembly, during which JA is well represented in multiple sessions during this international gathering of changemakers and decision-makers. I’m also looking forward to speaking at One Young World in Montreal, Canada, and will be joined on stage by the senior leadership from the Z Zurich Foundation, one of JA’s most generous supporters.

Until next time,
Asheesh

June 2024 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

As the 2024 fiscal year draws to a close at the end of June, I find this to be a good time for reflection. I don’t usually get a chance to provide a comprehensive list of all the projects underway at JA Worldwide in the monthly OneJA newsletters, but I’m excited to highlight a few of our projects and achievements from the last 12 months:

• The JA Brand Project to modernize the JA brand identity across 350+ locations in 100+ countries continued with great success, with new brand adoption in countries across all six regions of JA. Our goals for full brand adoption by the conclusion of our strategic plan cycle in June 2025 are within reach.  

• We secured major partnerships that are helping us advance our strategic priorities this year, including renewing grants such as PMIEF (to fund the modernization of learning experiences and deploying LMS capability) and securing major new grants from Accenture and the Z Zurich Foundation.  

• As part of our partnership with PMIEF, we launched a global initiative to accelerate the JA Company Program. We teamed up with INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA to develop relevant, tech-forward, youth-friendly content. This project is a unique blend of new themes and learning approaches, including microlearning options, credentials, and LMS capability. The core learning pathway remains the same, but we have embedded project-management skills, social entrepreneurship, digital learning, and masterclass tracks on AI, circular economy, digital media, innovation, renewable energy, and fintech—with more to come.

• During the fiscal year, we were thrilled to host the JA Worldwide Global Leadership Conference (GLC), a biennial event that united participants from across the globe. The virtual sessions unfolded October 23– 27, 2023, and attendance surged from 1,000+ in 2021 to 1,600+ in 2023. The in-person conference took place in Bangkok on November 12 –16, 2023. Collaborating with JA Thailand, we proudly brought this event to the Asia Pacific region for the first time, underscoring our commitment to reaching and empowering students worldwide. Remarkably, this marked the first in-person GLC since 2019, and the first time we’ve held GLC outside North America and Europe.

• We cheered the winner of the fourth annual De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award, a dynamic team from Greece recognized for creating a bestselling game. This entrepreneurial team showcased its innovation and business acumen, earning them top honors. Watch their inspiring journey here.

• Meanwhile, Ralph de la Vega graciously agreed to extend funding for the global entrepreneurship award that’s named in his and his wife, Maria’s, honor. The award will continue to recognize and support innovative young entrepreneurs worldwide.

• We were welcomed by INJAZ Saudi Arabia for our sixth annual SLT Summit, which included the newest members of our senior leadership team: Saloni Choudhry, General Counsel & Head of Risk; Stacie Fieth, VP of Education; and Ana Martiningui, VP of Global Development. JA Worldwide continues to add more global diversity to our senior leadership team, which draws leaders from all six regions of JA.

• We accelerated AI activities for automating operations and enhancing learning, including AI literacy training (in partnership with Microsoft and Accenture), hiring Christian Erfurt as Global AI Lead, developing ethical guidelines and JA Boost, an AI companion and co-pilot for students and teachers (now being tested). Please check out the brand new JA Worldwide AI Center of Excellence and read about JA Europe’s work with AI which was recently highlighted by WEF. 

• Caroline Jenner teamed up with the co-Chairs of the Learning Experiences Committee, Gus Schmedlen and Bhakti Vithalani, to author an article about AI to better understand the benefits, challenges, and learning opportunities surrounding this transformative technology.

• We introduced new policies and initiatives to protect our data and improve cybersecurity, as JA expands digital initiatives and online learning experiences.

• We introduced integrity@jaworldwide.org, a modern whistleblowing initiative to safeguard our brand and reputation.

• We ran the second cohort of JA’s Global Orientation (JA “GO”), designed for new staff joining JA from anywhere in the world. Eighty individuals participated in the cohort, giving the course a 9.6 net promoter score.

• We held JA Global Town Halls quarterly throughout the fiscal year, a practice initiated during the pandemic that has now become a vital channel for sharing information across our network. This year, the JA community addressed important topics such as AI, branding, strategy, and innovation.

• We announced the fifth cohort of JA Worldwide Fellows, a select group of JA leaders from our global network. Launched in 2018, this initiative enhances leadership, mentorship, and strategic skills through virtual training, in-person development, and transformational coaching.

• JA Africa CEO, Simi Nwogugu, won the prestigious Africa Education Medal 2023. This honor recognizes her exceptional contributions to advancing education and empowering youth across the continent.

• At COP28 Rewired Summit, JA hosted a sustainability panel, demonstrating our dedication to youth empowerment and climate action. We emphasized integrating youth perspectives and entrepreneurial solutions to tackle climate challenges, highlighting their crucial role in shaping sustainable development agendas and driving innovation toward a greener future. In partnership with Hack for Earth and PMIEF, we also hosted our first hackathon for climate change at COP28.

• JA Worldwide's Youth Voices initiative entered its second year and engaged JA students and alumni from 64 countries in conversations on self-efficacy, impact, learning, community, empowerment, and values. Analyzing over 200 dialogues, it unveiled shared experiences and insights among global youth. Explore more at youthvoices.org for the latest from the initiative's ongoing discussions.

• We announced the Laureates for the Global Business Hall of Fame. The Business Hall of Fame's 2023 Laureates include visionary leaders William Schawbel and Aline Flores, who have made indelible contributions to various industries, showcasing exemplary innovation and impact. These honorees embody excellence, resilience, and a steadfast commitment to shaping the global business landscape.

• Finally, we were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the third year in a row, drawing attention to the importance of economic empowerment as a pre-condition of prosperity and peace in communities and among nations.

None of these accomplishments would have been possible without the collaboration and international fellowship that exists among the staff, volunteers, alumni, and boards at JA’s members, regional operating centers, and the team at JA Worldwide. In July, we start the new fiscal year with a new set of aspirations—and a sense of gratitude for our continued collaboration and fellowship.

Until next time,
Asheesh

April 2024 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

Did you know that the youth unemployment rate is twice as high as the adult unemployment rate? And that population growth in low-income countries is much higher than population growth in high-income countries? Data and insights on topics such as these are available in the 2024 World Employment and Social Outlook report from the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Because reading statistics does not appeal to everyone (but is very appealing to data junkies like me!), I’ve selected a few charts that you may find interesting and relevant to the work we do at JA in preparing youth for employment and entrepreneurship. My hope is that by sharing these three charts from the report, you’ll be enticed to learn more about the data and see how JA’s work fits into the ecosystem of other non-profit and social-sector organizations that are addressing employability and the skills gap.

I was surprised when I first saw a presentation of ILO data during a meeting this week hosted by UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited—for example, that the population of low-income countries grew more than ten times faster than the population of high-income countries from 2011 to 2021 (see Chart 1). What a difference!

I also was surprised when I noticed that the youth unemployment rate is higher than the adult unemployment rate everywhere, in all categories of country/national income (see Chart 2). While we know that JA’s work in relevant in every community, no matter the level of national income, seeing this data drives the point home.

Finally, I noticed the large difference among males and females in the percentage of NEET (not in employment, education, or training) youth: See Chart 3.

What do these charts mean for the future of our work? What more should we be doing to improve the employability and entrepreneurship outcomes for the youth that we serve? I’d love to hear what you think. As you read the report, what surprises you . . . and what surprises your colleagues (or board members), if you share the report with them? I’d love to keep talking about data points shared here and in other global reports that we trust (linked to, below), and how they relate to the young people we serve.

• Future of Jobs Report

• Global Risks Report

• ManpowerGroup Global Talent Survey

Until next time,
Asheesh

March 2024 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

Recently, I've had the privilege of attending board meetings across our network, including a fantastic session with the JA Europe Board in Spain. I've met several new board members eager to delve deeper into the inner workings of JA. It's clear from past surveys of JA staff and boards that training and onboarding have been overlooked areas, but we're determined to change that. The JA Global Orientation (JA GO) program that was introduced in 2023 is now being supplemented with a Board Orientation program that we are designing for board members from across the JA network. Don’t worry—we won’t be naming it JA BO!

We need your help to develop and design this new Board Orientation. Not only do we need a name that is better than JA BO, we also need your input on how to make it engaging, useful, informative, and compelling for busy board members. For example, what topics should be cover? Which should we avoid? Should we create asynchronous videos on topics related to JA’s mission and values, or should we create synchronous online gatherings as we have done for JA Global Orientation, since these sessions deepen bonds and build community across the staff network? Or both? If we offer regular opportunities for board members to join online gatherings to build community, should these be offered just to new board members who are onboarding or for all board members? Should these be annual, quarterly, monthly?

To help answer these questions and collect feedback, we have been fortunate to work with a team from McKinsey & Company. If you would like to have your voice heard on this topic of designing Board Orientation, please reach out to me, and I will ensure that McKinsey adds you to their process for stakeholder consultation and data gathering. Rest assured, we intend to respect the autonomy and independence of the 340+ legal entities and thousands of board members in the JA network by designing the Board Orientation to be fixed, flexible, and freestyle—with a few fixed elements from JA Worldwide (such as an overview of our network and risk management guidelines), and many flexible and freestyle elements that allow for customization of the experience with regional and national content.

Our goal is to pilot the new Board Orientation program later this year, aiming for the same success we saw with JA Global Orientation, which received rave reviews from our first cohort of new staff members.

Until next time,
Asheesh

February 2024 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

JA Worldwide has always collected data from member locations on an annual basis, collaborating closely with our regional operating centers (ROCs) in the tabulation and quality control of data. Four years ago, we transitioned to JADE (JA Data Experience), which uses Microsoft Azure and PowerBI for data analysis and visualization. The transition has been a team effort, with countries and ROCs undergoing JADE training as they also develop policies for collecting and categorizing the data.

During FY23, JA increased our reach across multiple segments of student learning experiences.

We are at the mid-point of our strategic plan, and it is heartening to see that our collective aspiration to reach 20 million student learning experiences by FY25 is well within reach. We have a strong culture of growth across all six regions which is spurring these numbers. The JA network delivered 17.3 million student learning experiences in FY23, increasing from 15.1 million in FY22. The increase was in all three impact segments: Inspire, Prepare, and Succeed. The IPS breakdown for all regions is shown in Figure 1.

The growth in total student learning experiences represented an increase of 14% from FY22 to FY23. We attribute the growth to investments in digital capabilities to reach students directly and via partnerships with Ministries of Education. We estimate that 9% of total student learning experiences are now delivered directly to students (direct channel) rather than via schools or universities (indirect channel), which represents channel diversification for JA that was a necessity during the pandemic. Our strategic plan aspiration is to have a 25%-75% balance between the direct channel and indirect channel in order for JA’s regions to build resilience. We also estimate that JA member locations in over 80 countries have formal relationships with government agencies such as Ministries of Education or Workforce Development that provides access to students and youth in a scalable manner.

The Global Leadership Conference, which took place in November 2023, gave us an opportunity to recognize and showcase some of the best examples of new initiatives coming from the network in order to increase our impact, especially to underserved communities and youth. INJAZ Al-Arab (JA MENA) was celebrated for the innovative INJAZ Campus which blends local and regional content and uses modern LMS technology. JA Brazil is reaching remote communities thanks to a partnership with a social investment firm using low-tech solutions due to their poor access to internet in some areas. Likewise, JA Africa continues to deliver financial education for kids using mass-media with the highly popular Cha-Ching Money Show on television.

JA Worldwide uses the Inspire-Prepare-Succeed (IPS) framework to provide a segmentation tool for the JA network. It categorizes learning experiences by depth of impact. Introduced in 2021, the IPS framework provides greater visibility and transparency for all stakeholders with the following categories:

• Inspire experiences are introductory learning experiences that pique a student’s interest. Examples include student interactions, such as joining an online challenge or a session with a motivational speaker. Another example is an exploratory session about careers using a digital app.

• Prepare experiences make a deeper impact, with stated and measurable learning objectives and a curriculum. Student learning is assessed, and course completion is tracked. Examples include the JA Company Program for high-school students and JA Economics for Success for middle-school students.

• Succeed experiences demonstrate mastery of competences in real-world situations. Typically, these are experiences that are built on JA learning experiences —for example, earning the Entrepreneurial Skills Pass (ESP) micro-credential after completing the JA Company Program, benefitting from the 3DE curriculum in selected US schools, participating in a culminating competition, or launching a start-up. Succeed learning experiences also include JA Alumni returning to mentor student companies or serve as speakers at job fairs or trade shows.

JA Worldwide introduced the Impact Score as a KPI to help ensure that growth is impact-focused for member locations.

The ongoing dialogue among board members and among JA staff teams on how to balance learning-experience quantity and quality—and how to measure impact for diverse types of student learning experiences—is not unusual among not-for-profit organizations. At JA Worldwide, this challenge is exacerbated by our operating in over 100 countries with different regional/national/local needs and methodologies for delivering programs. For example, YouTube is considered entertainment in some countries and a primary source of educational content in other countries. Reaching underserved youth is also defined quite differently in the United States, Zimbabwe, or Yemen.

To help address these complex matters of measurement, JA Worldwide introduced the Impact Score last year after piloting it during our last strategic plan. The Impact Score has fixed, flexible, and freestyle elements that align to strategic priorities and shared impact measurement beliefs. A cross-functional team from all six ROCs collaborated on determining the specific scoring elements of the Impact Score.

Three core performance areas are built into the Impact Score (scored out of 100 points):

• Learning Experiences Mix (scored out of 50 points)

• Reach and Impact (scored out of 30 points)

• Implementation (scored out of 20 points)

The intent is to encourage JA offices to continuously reflect on what drives impact and ensure that they are doing whatever they can to improve impact outcomes from year to year. For example, under Learning Experience Mix, we reward deeper student experiences as measured by the Prepare and Succeed categories; under Reach and Impact, we reward alumni tracking and evidence of impact monitoring and evaluation assessments; and under Implementation, we reward sustainable growth through robust partnerships with the educational ecosystem, as well as effective use of digital delivery channels. See Figure 2.

We fully expect to update and modify the methodology for calculating the Impact Score as we learn more. Our intention is to align the Impact Score update cycle to the three-year strategic-planning cycle, so we have a mechanism for using KPIs and measurement to implement strategic priorities. For example, if our strategic objective were to shift focus on, say, internships and job placement for youth, our metrics in the Impact Score could be modified to provide more points for these types of learning experiences.

Figure 3 provides a snapshot of the proportion of countries in each region that were able to increase impact or remain at the same level. Last year, there was a significant increase in Impact Scores which we attribute to greater awareness across the network and more attention to the metrics. The Impact Score was first launched in 2021. We are not surprised that we are not seeing the same ‘jump’ in individual scores this year now that the tool has settled in. As we see in Figure 4, the overall average Impact Score by region has increased slightly, from 65 last year to 67 this year.

Last year, 67% of members maintained or increased their Impact Score, while this year it is 57%. The decrease for the majority of the members in Africa and Asia-Pacific is due to a decrease in Succeed experiences. Europe’s context is more complex with several factors at play: for example, there was a general decline in blended experiences, seven members reported decreases in contact hours, and four members had Inspire experiences that exceeded 35% of their total. In MENA, six members saw lower Impact Scores, also stemming from a combination of factors: less than 2% growth in Prepare and Succeed and fewer contact hours than the year before.

Consistent with our Strategic Plan priorities for 2023–2025, we have started to measure the percentage of student learning experiences for underserved youth populations, despite its complexity.

One of our four strategic priorities is to empower the underserved. As the saying goes, “what gets measured, gets done,” – so we have embarked on the complex process of measuring the percentage of JA’s student learning experiences reaching underserved youth. We have implemented a fixed, flexible, freestyle approach to bring the network along with us with the following definitions.

• The fixed element, developed in collaboration with Accenture Development Partners as part of our strategic-planning exercise and presented to the Board of Governors, includes the following elements: (1) World Bank data to categorize nations, which is updated annually and accepted as a global standard; (2) for the World Bank’s “high income nations” (e.g. US, Bahrain, France) and “upper middle-income nations” (e.g. Mexico, Turkey, Botswana), we define underserved as those with below-median levels of access and outcomes for education and livelihoods; and (3) we include youth living in the World Bank’s “lower middle income nations” (e.g. Nigeria, El Salvador, Pakistan)  and “low-income nations” (e.g., Yemen, DRC) as underserved.

• The flexible elements and freestyle elements allow the regions and members to determine which students fall into these categories. For example, in Canada, federal data shows that the indigenous population has experienced below-median outcomes for educational opportunities and livelihoods. As a result, JA Canada may elect to include programs targeting indigenous youth in its definition of underserved.

As this framework was introduced only last year, it will take time for the JA network to receive training and achieve full adoption. At this time, we estimate that approximately 37% of the FY23 total number of student learning experiences reach, reported by the members, underserved youth, or 6 million total student learning experiences. This estimate is based on three data elements: (1) 86% of our members have indicated that they have specifically targeted underserved groups and described the types of learning experiences they are providing, adding up to approximately 5.2 million student learning experiences (e.g., JA USA estimates that 49.5% of student learning experiences are in Title I schools in the US); (2) 21 countries in which JA operates are classified by the World Bank as “low income nations” or “lower middle income nations”; and (3) for the few members from “high income nations” and “upper middle income nations” that have not provided estimates of reaching underserved youth, we make a conservative estimate that approximately 20% (or 0.35 million) of their student learning experiences are to underserved youth using our definitions noted above. In future years, we expect to refine and improve this methodology and continue to build data analytics capabilities for the JA network.  

For most regions, growth was broad-based rather than concentrated in a few nations. The large majority of JA members experienced growth rather than decline in student learning experiences from FY22 to FY23.

During FY23, JA’s growth was broad-based in most regions. Figure 5 shows the percentage of member nations in each region which experienced growth rather than decline in total learning experiences (excluding any learning experiences allocated to the activities of the ROC). With the exception of MENA, all regions had the majority of members experiencing growth in student learning experiences from FY22 to FY23, averaging 65% globally for the JA network. For context, this proportion is usually 50% to 70%.

During FY23, JA’s learning experiences delivered in elementary schools recovered to the levels that we had seen before the pandemic.

In 2021, as a result of school closures and limited vaccine rollout for younger students, reaching youth in elementary schools proved more difficult than reaching youth over the age of 13. However, since the pandemic, the proportion of JA’s total learning experience delivered in elementary schools has recovered from 27% to 43%, which is the same proportion of JA’s total it was in FY17. Figure 6 summarizes the regional trend data over 7 years, comparing FY23 data on “Prepare” student experiences to FY17 program distribution on student enrollments. In past years, we had expected that JA’s distribution would shift to older students and youth. However, in 2023, we noticed that JA’s funders, partners, and staff – particularly in Asia-Pacific and the United States, re-introduced student learning experiences in elementary schools.

During FY23, JA’s cost per student learning experience continued to decrease.

As JA has now developed deeper expertise in delivering educational content in digital formats and in lower-cost channels and geographies, JA’s cost per student experience has decreased. On a fully loaded basis (including total expenses of the member countries, ROCs, and JA Worldwide), the total cost per student dropped from $24 in FY21 to $21 in FY22 to $19 in FY23 (see Figure 7). In FY23, this decrease in total cost per student came alongside a substantial increase in total revenue collected by the JA network of 9% and an increase in total expenses of 6% from FY21 to FY22. Since recovering from the pandemic, the total revenue collected by the JA network has increased from $332 million in FY21 to $373 million to $407 million in FY23—collectively over $1.1 billion over the last three years.

Given that data metrics are reported by member locations and ROCs using different school year and fiscal year timeframes, and then aggregated globally, it is challenging to disentangle all instances of intra-network transfers for passthrough funding and fees. Therefore, this cost per student learning experience metric should be regarded as an estimate.

One key takeaway is that these data metrics continue a long-term decreasing trend in cost per student due to the competitive environment for funding, more digital delivery mechanisms, and a desire for scale in philanthropy, particularly in emerging markets and less developed countries where the youth population is growing.

As we did last year, JA Worldwide and the entire JA network should take a moment to appreciate that we are fortunate to have both increased total revenue and improved cost per student, coming out of the pandemic period.

In FY23, the JA network increased total staff, volunteers, and teachers partially recovering from pandemic-related reductions.

Overall, the network has seen a staff increase of 15% (slightly higher than the increase we saw last year). Operations appear to be steadily recovering though we still see decreases in Africa due to the termination of our relationship in Gabon and a staff reduction in Nigeria. See Figure 8. Where there have been increases, it is largely due to schools re-opening and new grant-funded opportunities.

Direct-to-student delivery options—led at the regional level, rather than just at the national level—are on the rise and an important entry to underserved geographies where we do not have member operations. As a result, most ROCs experienced a modest increase in staff count and/or a restructuring of skills needed for key positions.

JA offices have been deepening their relationships with ministries of education and other educational authorities in their communities. These collaborations are continuing to recover and stabilize post-pandemic. The number of volunteers engaged increased 30% from FY22 to FY23 for a total of 375,817. The number of educators held steady at 1% increase to 301,948 in FY23. See Figure 9.

Looking forward

With the introduction of “Empower the Underserved” as one of our four strategic priorities for 2023–2025, the assets and capabilities that we have been investing in over the last several years including JADE and the Impact Score will become even more valuable. Better data will lead to better outcomes and will help us deliver on the fundamental unifying impact objective of the JA network: to prepare youth for employment and entrepreneurship.

Until next time,
Asheesh

January 2024 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

As you may remember from previous years, I head to Davos, Switzerland, every January for the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), joining leaders from business, government, and other nonprofits. This year’s focus for the Annual Meeting was “Rebuilding Trust," and the meeting brought together over 1,000 WEF partners, 100+ government leaders, nearly all major international organizations, civil society leaders, social entrepreneurs, youth representatives, content experts, and media.

I wrote a daily blog from Davos, using it as an opportunity to share and elevate youth voices, connections during the week with JA board and staff members, highlights of the numerous panels I watched and a reskilling panel I served on, and the excitement that came from meetings with many of our largest funders. If you haven't had a chance to read those posts, click here. 

Until next time,
Asheesh

December 2023 CEO Letter

The final days of 2023 are a perfect time to reflect on the many accomplishments of the JA network over the course of the last 12 months. Our team at JA Worldwide is grateful for the staff, volunteers, board members, teachers, and, of course, students who inspire us every day. This year, in particular, we have much to be thankful for.  

In the first quarter of 2023, JA’s Entrepreneurial Skills Pass was selected as one of the “Education 4.0 Lighthouses” by the World Economic Forum, for offering one of the first globally recognized microcredentials for high school students. We’re proud of the hard work from JA Europe, JA Worldwide, and the 50+ JA member locations that are measuring the impact of JA Company Program systematically and empowering JA Company Program graduates to earn this microcredential. During the first quarter of the year, we also selected the 2023 class of JA Fellows for high-potential staff seeking personal development, honored a student team from JA Zimbabwe (Hekima, Inc.) as the winners of the De La Vega Global Entrepreneurial Award, released Shattering Glass 2.0 on International Women’s Day, and announced that JA Worldwide was once again nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. A great start to the year!

In the second quarter of 2023, we released an updated JA Impact Report that showcases data-rich studies from across the JA network about student and alumni outcomes from JA learning experiences. In addition, we announced the names of newly inducted laureates in the Global Business Hall of Fame, adding greater diversity to the pantheon of role models for the world’s youth who are honored each year. We also recognized students from Malta as the winners of the Global FinCap Challenge, raised awareness of the importance of financial capability by speaking at World Education Summit, and were recognized again as one the top 200 social good organizations (SGOs) in the world, climbing from #6 to #5 in the annual rankings. We don’t measure our success by rankings, but it is nice to bring attention to our mission of serving youth and garner the respect of our peers, given that the ranking is based on impact, innovation, and good governance.

In the third quarter of 2023, JA’s brand was lifted by the success of JA Africa CEO Simi Nwogugu, who was selected as the winner of the Africa Education Medal. It was wonderful to see Simi’s hard work recognized, given the enormous opportunities and challenges of bringing JA to the youth of Sub-Saharan Africa. JA Europe, under the leadership of Salvatore Nigro, hosted Gen-E in Istanbul, Türkiye, bringing students together from over 40 countries for Europe’s largest entrepreneurship festival in a marathon multi-day event with over 800 participants. FedEx and JA Asia Pacific, led by CEO Maziar Sabet, hosted the International Trade Challenge for nearly 5,000 youth representing ten countries from across the Asia Pacific region, and do so in just three intense days. Under the leadership of Noël Zemborain, JA Americas hosted NauFest 2023, bringing students together both online and in physical locations in five countries across the Americas—including 6,000 students who met in a stadium in Brazil for an inspirational day. Junior Achievement USA, under the leadership of Jack Kosakowski, was selected the winner of the 2023 Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence; JA Inspire also received a bronze ribbon in the Learning Delivery Platform category of the 2023 International E-Learning Awards, given by the International E-Learning Association.

Another member of the JA Worldwide Senior Leadership Team (SLT), Leo Martellotto, showed his endurance by competing in the 2023 Ironman World Championships, just a few months after he tested his endurance skills in another way by agreeing to move from JA Americas to JA Worldwide as Chief Development Officer! The SLT also transformed with the addition of Chief Financial Officer Adnan Bokhari and General Counsel & Head of Risk Saloni Choudhry. JA schools were also shortlisted for the 2023 World’s Best School Prizes during the quarter, marking the second year in a row in which JA schools were recognized in this manner.

In the last quarter of 2023, the JA Worldwide team was focused on offering two GLCs for the JA network. First, virtual GLC in October attracted staff from over 100 countries, joining workshops on organizational resilience, people development and alumni, brand, and learning experiences and technology. Next, GLC in Bangkok, with incredible support from JA Asia Pacific and JA Thailand, attracted staff from over 50 countries, gathering in person for leadership training by McKinsey.org, workshops on topics ranging from AI to performance management, and our biennial Awards Gala that recognizes the top initiatives across the JA network. We’re grateful to GLC sponsors and partners that allowed us to deliver a great experience to JA staff for an affordable (and subsidized) cost, including Delta, Z Zurich Foundation, McKinsey.org, PMIEF, Microsoft, Accenture Development Partners, and Sparks Willson, P.C..

After GLC, we ended the year with more good news with recognition from the European Institute of Technology for JA Europe’s work to integrate AI into the JA Company Program so that young people can get exposure to the latest AI tools while starting their entrepreneurship journey. In December, I spoke at the World Scouts Education Summit as part of an effort between the World Organization of the Scout Movement and JA Worldwide to collaborate on developing badges for entrepreneurship and other relevant skills for the future of work. A few days later, JA was well represented at the COP28 RewirED Summit in Dubai, with staff, partners, and alumni showcasing how young entrepreneurs are playing an increasingly significant role in addressing climate change.

Many of JA’s programs aspire to teach youth how to turn scarcity into abundance through an entrepreneurial mindset. In listing our accomplishments over the last four quarters, I’m reminded of how my colleagues already have this superpower, creating abundance from scarcity in the service of others. I’m so grateful to work with such resourceful and hard-working colleagues.

Best wishes to you and your family for a happy, healthy, peaceful, and prosperous 2024.

Asheesh

November 2023 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

Inspiration and human connection. These are the words that come to mind when I reflect on the Global Leadership Conference (GLC) that just wrapped up in Thailand. Last month, we held GLC Virtual, attracting participants from over 100 countries across the JA network, who joined online sessions spanning four days. This month, we held our in-person GLC in Bangkok, with leaders from more than 60 countries and an array of speakers leading workshops, adding their voices to plenary panels, and delivering a content-rich experience.

This was the first time in JA’s history that the Global Leadership Conference was held outside Europe and North America, providing a symbol of the substantial growth of JA programs across the Asia Pacific region over the last few years. In 2023, JA Asia Pacific reached over 3.7 million youth, making it the fastest growing region of JA over the last decade, thanks to the efforts of JA staff, board members, volunteers, teachers, and alumni.

For me, GLC Bangkok offered several highlights, centered on learning, connecting, and advancing our collective goal to reach more students and magnify our impact in communities across the world. For example:

• McKinsey.org provided leadership training for all participants, introducing us to key leadership best practices—and reminding us to serve as conscious leaders who stay “above the line” (I would encourage you to watch this video from Conscious Leadership Group for an introduction to the concept of “above the line” and “below the line” mindsets). Some additional good news announced at GLC: McKinsey.org will continue to partner with JA Worldwide to provide additional training for staff from the JA network in 2024.

• We hosted two discussions for the JA network on AI, one focused on practical, staff-facing activities that help us become more effective in our roles, and another focused on how AI is impacting student learning experiences and JA programs. These sessions included leaders from Accenture and Microsoft, plus innovative JA alumni Howard Leong and Christian Erfurt.

• We heard from Ayse Birsel, an industrial designer and TED speaker, who helped us deepen our understanding of JA and our lives in the context of design principles. There were many take-aways from her keynote speech (which received a well-deserved standing ovation), but my favorite was when we all realized that identifying our heroes helps us understand our own values . . . and these values connect to JA’s values, which were visually suspended on banners from the rafters in the conference room. It was an “aha!” moment for me and many of us in the room.

• The JA Worldwide Fellows from 2021–22 and 2022–23 were passionate about gelling as a team with colleagues from around the JA network. These small teams of high-performing JA staff not only learned critical leadership skills but also became lifelong friends.

• We announced the expansion of Youth Voices, our partnership with MIT Center for Constructive Communication and Cortico, which enters a third phase, whereby JA is the official founding partner for Fora, a new app that expands the Youth Voices project and makes it accessible on-the-go. Watch the announcement from Deb Roy, Director, MIT Center for Constructive Communication and Cortico co-Founder.

• We led a wide-ranging discussion about how JA can do more to create a peaceful world. For me, one of the takeaways is to encourage more JA locations to include modules about “global citizenship” in our programs. JA India/tGELF has developed a teacher-led curriculum that includes these modules and offered to share it at no cost with anyone in the JA network.

• We gave GLC participants a preview of the book, Modern Achievement, which I’m writing with Marshall Goldsmith and which we’ll release in spring of 2024, with all proceeds donated to JA.

• We honored finalists and winners of the much-coveted GLC Awards, in nine different categories.

Finally, three long-term leaders within the JA network—Akef Aqrabawi, Rob Gardner, and Jack Kosakowski—received 25-year, 30-year, and 50-year service awards, respectively. Akef has enabled INJAZ Al-Arab and the entire MENA network to flourish, first by leading operations, and then as CEO for the last eight years, helping the region reach its aspirational goal of serving one million students this year. Rob has served the JA network with distinction as the leader of Prestasi Junior Indonesia (JA Indonesia) and was awarded the JA Lifetime Achievement Award by his peers, a well-deserved recognition. Jack has been a transformational leader for Junior Achievement USA and has personally showcased many of the values that have defined JA’s culture for several years. I had the pleasure of making the speech to honor Jack’s contributions to JA, which is a memory that I will treasure. Akef, Rob, and Jack were emotional in receiving this recognition from the JA network at GLC and their inspiring remarks touched us all.

Until next time,

Asheesh

October 2023 CEO Letter

[This letter was originally drafted on October 13. It was updated on October 20 to reflect new information from the JA network. This monthly letter is intended to provide factual updates on matters related to JA, and is not intended to provide statements on behalf of our organization.]

Dear colleagues,

On October 6, jailed Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, bringing attention to the struggle for women’s rights in Iran. We are grateful that JA Worldwide was nominated in 2023, alongside other impactful organizations and individuals striving to build a more peaceful world.

In the days since, we’ve been in close touch with our operations in both Israel and Palestine. We were first able to ascertain that staff members in Israel are safe, thank goodness. The news from Gaza, however, is that the INJAZ Palestine–Gaza office was destroyed and a staff member was injured and suffered enormous personal loss, which is heartbreaking to me personally. We will continue to monitor and support operations in these war-torn areas, as we do in in Ukraine (where JA has a presence), Yemen (where we have been operating for many years), and Sudan (where we continue to serve students), as well as many other locations that don’t get mentioned in global news. As you know, JA Worldwide is a non-political organization serving youth in six regions and over 100 countries, but whenever terrorism, warfare, forced displacement, and natural disasters keep us from our primary mission to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy, I use this monthly newsletter to keep the JA network informed of developments that impact our teams.

JA has never been more important. As part of the growing diversity of student learning experiences in JA’s locations around the world, we aim to inculcate youth with the skills to listen and communicate; problem-solve creatively so that all participants benefit; take responsibility for themselves and their communities, approach their work and relationships with passion, honesty, and integrity; and fully believe—thanks to an abundance of mentorship, failures, successes, and learning opportunities—that they will succeed in their long-term goals.

Increasingly, their goals are aimed at building a peaceful, equitable, sustainable world, making JA one of the world’s largest training grounds for economic empowerment, prosperity, and peace. Through JA’s global network, young people can also experience the fellowship and cross-border collaboration, which enables them—through international friendships, mentorships, and travel—to better understand the nuance and complexity of geopolitics.

Global Leadership Conference 2023

Our staff, boards, and JA Global Council also benefit from the global fellowship and cooperation that’s at the heart of JA, which is why we host our Global Leadership Conference (GLC) every two years. At this year’s virtual event, we’ll have a special, invitation-only, free session that I’m personally asking you to attend. "Resilience at JA: The Important Role of Boards and Board Members" is designed to raise awareness of the JA global strategy (and understand how it adds value to your JA location), build community and develop new connections with board members across the globe, and support your engagement at all levels of the organization. Register here.

The world may seem like an unsettling, inhospitable, frightening place right now, but I believe in the boundless potential of young people and our network of teams, who are determined to make their communities—and the entire world—a place of camaraderie, equality, and peace.

Until next time,
Asheesh

September 2023 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

For only the second time in JA Worldwide history, our biennial Global Leadership Conference (GLC) includes an invitation-only session designed to support and celebrate board engagement and development at all levels of the organization. “Resilience at JA: The Important Role of Boards and Board Members” is an opportunity for board members to develop new connections and relationships across the globe, learn how other regions and nations are bringing JA’s strategy to life, and to be inspired by JA’s strategic aspirations and vision.

As I mentioned in last month’s newsletter, GLC is our most pivotal staff development opportunity, and it’s held only once every two years. For the last eight years, I’ve seen how the truly global nature of our network comes to life during GLC, with staff members meeting colleagues who are working toward the same mission, with the same values, the same challenges, and intertwined goals. The energy surrounding each GLC is palpable, as JA teams network with each other and share innovation within the JA network.

Our first-ever GLC board session, two years ago, yielded the same energy, as attendees shared their motivations for giving back to JA; their goals and challenges; and what is and isn’t working in each local area, country, and region. This session shares another similarity to two years ago (one for which I apologize in advance): It starts just a bit early if you’re on the more western side of the world in order to include our colleagues from Asia-Pacific: 7amEDT/1pmCEST/7pmHKT on October 24.

But I can promise you it’ll be worth the extra coffee: we’ll focus on magnifying JA’s work in each of the four priorities of our strategic plan: accelerating digital, empowering the underserved, cultivating partnerships, and strengthening OneJA. We’ll outline the road map to serving 100 million by 2050 through the Inspire-Prepare-Succeed methodology. And given our recent Nobel Peace Prize nominations, we’ll also discuss what it will take to build a more peaceful world and how your JA location is part of achieving that peace.

In the coming weeks, we will be sending reminders and invitations to board members (and JA leaders from around the world. If you serve on a JA board or JA Global Council, please register now, and we’ll send a calendar invite to your inbox. I can’t wait to see you there.

Until next time,
Asheesh

July–August 2023 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

Traveling to meet with JA colleagues from around the world brings me so much energy and fills me with hope for our future. Through my travels over the last few weeks, I’ve spent time in three of our six JA regions, including JA Europe’s Gen-E event in Istanbul, Türkiye (an event that includes Company of the Year finals for high-school students, Start-Up finals for college-age students, alumni events, and sessions for teachers); the Junior Achievement USA National Leadership Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, USA; and the JA Americas Board Meeting and Leadership Summit in Miami, Florida, USA.

The OneJA spirit permeated these events, with JA staff from over 40 countries coming together at Gen-E in Istanbul, JA staff from the US region winning awards to travel to global events, and JA staff in the Americas region traveling to Miami from over 15 countries to learn from each other. At each event, there was a sense that we are all part of one global community of JA associates with shared values and a willingness to work across boundaries to help young people realize their full potential. 

In less than three months, we’ll all be coming together for our Global Leadership Conference, which is designed for staff but also offers opportunities for alumni, board members, and more. GLC Virtual is our free, four-day conference focusing on functional training, including one day each for learning experiences and technology, organizational resiliency, alumni and people development, and amplifying our global brand, with risk-management and governance mixed into sessions each of the four days. Although we started GLC Virtual in 2021 to address the global pandemic, we saw the strong benefits for the network of continuing this event, namely saving on travel costs, reducing our carbon footprint, and creating a more flexible GLC. Once again, we’ll be offering one or more credentials (badges), in which staff can build skills in a particular area or track.

In addition, we’re bringing back in-person GLC, this time in Bangkok, Thailand, the first GLC in JA’s history that will be in Asia-Pacific, our largest region with the highest youth population in the world. This event for JA leadership will focus on magnifying JA’s work in the four areas of our strategic focus: accelerating digital, empowering the underserved, cultivating partnerships, and strengthening OneJA. Given our recent Nobel Peace Prize nomination, we will also come together as a global fellowship to discuss what it will take to build a more peaceful world and how each JA location can participate.

Of course, as in past GLCs, one of the main events will be the gala in which we present GLC awards honoring both the individuals who have contributed to the organization and JA offices that best exemplify innovation, collaboration, and resilience.

• The JA Bold Tech Award (previously the JA High-Tech Award) recognizes a JA location that has developed bold-tech learning experiences for students, including virtual or augmented reality, artificial intelligence, an interactive website and app, and other immersive and innovative uses of technology.

• The JA Access Award (previously the JA Low-Tech Award) recognizes JA locations that develop low-tech or no-tech learning experiences for students who don’t have reliable internet access.

• The JA Alumni Engagement Award recognizes a JA location that has developed robust alumni strategies, including tracking of, communication with, and engagement projects for JA alumni.

• The JA Activator Award recognizes the JA location that best activates learning experiences and ideas developed by others within JA.

• And the all-new JA Brand Amplification Awards recognize JA locations that have extended and amplified the JA brand most effectively, through a marketing campaign, social-media post, ad, video, booklet, report, speech, article, website, poster, or other marketing collateral.

• In addition, the JA Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a JA chief executive who has significantly contributed to the growth and impact of JA learning experiences in his or her country, while the Soraya Salti Award—named in memory of the extraordinary woman who founded INJAZ Al-Arab—recognizes a JA visionary who pushes boundaries to move JA forward and bring systematic change to a country or region.

I can’t wait to see share details about finalists and winners later this year.

Until next time,
Asheesh

June 2023 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

As the 2023 fiscal year draws to a close on June 30, this is a good time for reflection on what we have accomplished as a team over the last 12 months, the first year of the 2023–2025 “Boundless” Strategic Plan.

Here are just a few highlights and achievements:

• We were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the second time, highlighting our credibility as a top NGO and one that can draw attention to the value of education and economic empowerment as a means for creating peaceful relations between nations.

• JA Worldwide remained among the ten most impactful social-good organizations in the world, moving up from #7 in 2019, 2020, and 2021 to #6 in 2022 and #5 this year.

• JA’s Entrepreneurial Skills Pass (ESP) was selected as one of 40 lighthouse initiatives within the Education 4.0 framework at the World Economic Forum. The ESP is the premier microcredential for teenage entrepreneurs and is offered in 52 countries and 28 languages. Our ambitious goal is to have 100,000 teenage entrepreneurs earn their ESP by 2025.

• Major partnerships that are helping us advance on multiple strategic priorities were secured in this year with PMIEF (modernizing learning experiences and deploying LMS capability), Z Zurich Foundation (accelerating digital learning opportunities in Africa), Patrick McGovern Foundation (supporting global data governance practices and SSO implementation), and Accenture (focused on sustainability content).

• JA Worldwide renewed the four year of our partnership with HSBC with a focus on building a financial capable generation.

• Students from Brazil, Greece, Uganda, Indonesia, Mexico, Vietnam, Hungary, and Nigeria participated in our first Virtual Global Exchange in partnership with BASF, a new supporter of JA Worldwide, which renewed the partnership and expanded to include students from Chile and Costa Rica for its second year.

• JA Worldwide was in New York City for UNGA week in September, when the United Nations put a spotlight on education.

• JA Worldwide was featured in Forbes with an interview about leadership and entrepreneurship.

• JA Worldwide was selected by Fast Company as one of the 100 Most Innovative Workplaces, ranking first among non-profit organizations.

• A JA Zimbabwe school was shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prize for Innovation and a JA Ireland school was shortlisted for the World’s Best School Prize in Supporting Healthy Lives.

• The winner of the third annual de la Vega Entrepreneurship Award went to a team from Zimbabwe, representing the first time that an African team has won this prestigious award.

• Our online alumni community, Gather, continued to grow to over 56,000 members, surpassing in size the online alumni communities of most major universities and business schools. JA’s alumni chapters saw significant expansion this year, growing from 87 chapters to 105 chapters, including growth in the United States, Canada, India, and several countries in MENA and Europe.

• We expanded our digital exhibit for the Global Business Hall of Fame to showcase diverse role models for youth, including four new inspiring Laureates in 2023.

• The JA Brand Project to modernize the JA brand identity moved from consensus-building to execution with amazing creativity from JA locations around the world that brings the new brand system to life. The JA Brand Guidelines are now available in 13 languages and exemplify the fixed-flexible-freestyle approach of empowering regional and local teams to amplify the JA brand around the world.

• We held JA Global Town Halls three times during the fiscal year, a practice that we started during the pandemic, and which has become a popular new tradition at JA, with participants from across the JA network covering topics such as strategy, brand, and innovation.

• Several JA Worldwide communities of practice have been launched so far (one of our key initiatives under our strategic objective to Strengthen OneJA). The LX-Tech Community has 430 members and the CARDS Community (Compliance-Accountability-Risk-Data Protection-Safeguarding) has 129 members. New communities for Writers and Designers are launching this summer. 

• We selected our fourth cohort of JA Fellows from applicants from all six regions of JA. For the first time, all eight Fellows were women!

• We kicked off our first-ever Global Orientation course (JA “GO”), designed for new staff joining JA from anywhere in the world, a positive step in the direction of building a cohesive global culture across JA’s entities. More than 50 individuals participated in the pilot edition over the course of five weeks and seven sessions. Training content on cybersecurity was specially created for this course. Our strategic goal is to ensure that 100% of new JA staff participate in this course.

• Giving from the Global Council increased in FY23, and the Chair of the Council and most dedicated donor, Bill Schawbel, committed to another major gift in FY24.

• JA Worldwide had our best year ever in raising contributions for operating revenue (excluding in-kind revenue) and passthrough funding, surpassing fiscal year FY22, which had been our previous best-year-ever.

This list of accomplishments would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of my colleagues at JA Worldwide, working collaboratively with the ROCs and with the JA members. The headquarters team at JA Worldwide is part of a global network of teams that collectively works across borders and boundaries to accomplish so much. I hope you are as thankful as I am to have the opportunity to work with such amazing people!

Until next time,
Asheesh

May 2023 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

Did you know that employers expect that 44% of our skills as workers and employees will be disrupted over the next five years? The advent of AI and other technologies is rapidly changing the skills landscape and will require us to adapt. This is why the 2023 Future of Jobs Report, just released by the World Economic Forum, and its conclusions are worth understanding. It provides JA with a roadmap for building many of the skills that employers seek now and in the years ahead.

Since 2016, the Future of Jobs Report, a biennial publication of the World Economic Forum (WEF), explores how jobs—and the skills required to do those jobs—will evolve over the next five years. The report bases its analysis on a survey of the world’s largest employers: 803 companies across 27 sectors in 45 economies that employ 11.3 million workers. These employers share data about expected job growth and job cutbacks and detail the skills they are seeking in both candidates and employees. The result is a global look at jobs and skills trends, as well as the forces creating the most disruption in the workplace.

The last report, issued in October 2020, was six months into the global pandemic. As you can imagine, that report focused on the growing trend of hybrid workplaces, the outsized role of technology on job skills and job growth, the challenges of youth education and employment, the impact of the pandemic on economic opportunity, and other ramifications of the pandemic.  

Global Findings for 2023–2028

The 2023 edition of the Future of Jobs Report, weighing in at nearly 300 pages (roughly double the length of the 2020 report), focuses on the headspinningly fast, profound effect of technology (particularly artificial intelligence) in the workplace, along with green energy transition opportunities, the persistent effect of COVID-19 on the supply chain, and political and geographic factors impacting the workplace. This report—far more than the three that preceded it—showcases the staggering transformation that AI and other technology is likely to have on the workplace.

WEF organizes the report into four main sections: what’s driving workforce transformation, the outlook for jobs, the outlook for skills, and how employers can both acquire and develop the talent they need. Although I urge you to read the report, 296 pages is a lot to get through, so here are a few high-level notes:

• Most countries are facing higher unemployment and lower real wages than before the pandemic. Well educated professionals in high-income countries still enjoy a tight labor market, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting inflation has impacted almost everyone else in the job market.

• The biggest job growth will come in the technology, agriculture, education, and e-commerce sectors, while the biggest job loss will be in administrative work, factory job, brick-and-mortar retail work, and data entry and record keeping.

• Technology adoption will radically transform business over the next five years, including the use of AI, big data, cloud computing, digital platforms and apps, ecommerce and digital trade, education and workforce technology, and robotics.

• Employers expect to automate 42% of business tasks in the next five years, up from 34% today. But the biggest disruptor will be in the type of business tasks that are able to be automated, due to the abilities of AI to reason and make decisions, versus the computing abilities of the past that were limited to processing data and information.

• Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is impacting the workplace and changing consumer expectations. In addition, the largest number of new jobs will come from green transition.

• Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs will prioritize hiring youth under age 25, women, and workers with disabilities, and will also focus on disadvantaged ethnic groups, older workers, low-income workers, and workers identifying as LGBTQI+.

• The pandemic shifted worker preferences, with workers far more open to changing employers than in the past. Workers are worried that their salaries won’t keep pace with inflation, but in addition to pay, the most-valued workplace offerings are flexibility (in work hours and job location), job security, work-life balance to avoid burnout, diversity and inclusion (especially in leadership), and training opportunities. ­

The Skills Gap

JA learning experiences, which not only teach critical skills to young people but also inculcate the value and means of continuously building skills, is going to be critical in the next five years, as employers estimate that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted. (That’s not 44% of workers having to learn new skills, but that 44% of everyone’s skills will need to change. That’s nearly half of the skills you have today being unnecessary in the next five years, and new skills needing to replace those.)

From the skills outlook section of the report, I can give you a summary of the trends that are disrupting the skills needed in today’s workplace, as well as skilling/reskilling priorities over the next five years. The most highly prized skills are AI and big data, leadership and social influence, complex problem-solving, creative thinking, and technology literacy, as well as self-efficacy, working with others, systems thinking, talent management, and service orientation. Organizations are also looking for social-emotional attitudes like curiosity, resilience, flexibility, agility, a desire for lifelong learning.

What’s on the decline? Reading, writing, math (the core curriculum of most schools), fine-motor and endurance skills related to assembly and manufacturing work, and more.

In my own travels to World Economic Forum events, educational conferences, meetings with Fortune 200 companies, and JA student events around the world, I have seen these trends up close. According to the Future of Jobs Report, companies plan to reskill and upskill existing employees, with 80% investing in business learning. However, companies also report that they are not able to find new workers with the skills they need. JA’s focus on addressing this skills gap by connecting the educational system, youth, and employers will continue to be critical in the years ahead. However, we will need to continue to innovate and adapt our programs and learning experiences to be responsive to the new reality. During the virtual and in-person 2023 JA Global Leadership Conference (GLC), we’ll have panel discussions and hands-on training on how we can manage the coming changes effectively.

Until next time,
Asheesh

April 2023 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

Suddenly, everyone is talking about artificial intelligence (AI), from ChatGPT’s ability to write first drafts to smart robots that are everywhere right now. But education is, perhaps, where AI’s impact is being most keenly felt.

Even the World Economic Forum’s Education 4.0 initiative—which reimagines education as an inclusive, lifelong experience that places the responsibility for skill-building on the learner, with teachers and mentors acting as facilitators and enablers—is embracing the impact of AI. This is because AI is rapidly (and radically) changing the future of work, and the Education 4.0 framework is built around the employment needs of the future.

If you haven’t tested ChatGPT yet and explored its implication for schools and education, I urge you to give a try. Not because the content it churns out is great writing (its isn’t yet) and not because it doesn’t make mistakes (it still does), but because ChatGPT is such an easy-to-understand example of AI. For example, you might type in a prompt like, “write a Shakespearean sonnet that describes the pungent odor of Durian fruit,” and a few seconds later, out comes this sonnet:

Oh foul and wretched fruit, Durian by name,
Whose stench can make the bravest man recoil,
A scent so strong, it puts all else to shame,
A fruit so vile, it must be sent to boil.

No nose can bear the pungent odor's might,
A putrid smell that lingers in the air,
It grips the senses with a hold so tight,
No perfume can compare or ever dare.

Some say its taste is worth the awful smell,
But I, alas, cannot abide the taste,
For all its flavor can't redeem its hell,
Nor make its fetid stink one jot more chaste.

Oh Durian, fruit of stench and foul renown,
May thy noxious scent ne'er wear a crown.

It’s not beautiful poetry, to be sure, and does not conjure comparisons to a summer’s day. It is not more lovely or more temperate, but it’s not terrible, either and Shakespeare himself might approve! And if you submitted the prompt again, it would create an entirely different sonnet, and would keep doing that again and again more efficiently than Shakespeare could, long after you tired of the game.

We’re using it at JA Worldwide to write simple first drafts of writing projects, and although we usually end up using only a single sentence—or none at all—from the answers it gives, having ChatGPT write a first draft keeps us from staring at the dreaded “blank screen” when we need to write new content.

But in the one example we shared above, you can see the challenge that educators may have with ChatGPT, right? If students are supposed to be learning to research and write, or are learning to write poetry, but instead are simply typing a prompt into ChatGPT and submitting the result, they might never develop the intended skills. For this reason, you may have heard of some universities and secondary schools banning its use or of teachers asking to see students’ ChatGPT usage history. There’s no doubt that ChatGPT introduces a host of challenges for educators and that plenty of debate lies ahead.

But, for all the worry about ChatGPT’s ability to bypass important learning, many teachers are embracing this latest example of AI in much the same way all technology innovation has been embraced: by learning all they can about it, asking students to lean into the technology, and helping students visualize what they can make of it.

In the last three months alone, the New York Times, Brookings Institution, International Society for Technology in Education, Scientific American, and Edutopia have all highlighted or recommended teachers’ embrace of ChatGPT:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/technology/chatgpt-schools-teachers.html

• https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2023/01/09/chatgpt-educational-friend-or-foe/

• https://www.iste.org/explore/classroom/chatgpt-educators

• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chatgpt-can-improve-education-not-threaten-it/

• https://www.edutopia.org/article/6-ways-chatgpt-save-teachers-time/

At JA Worldwide, our Theory of Change is tied directly to self-efficacy (an individual's belief in his or her ability to successfully perform a task or achieve an outcome), which means that part of our teaching approach is helping young people want to learn new things, have the confidence to learn new things, be surrounded by role models who are learning new things, and—over time—develop mastery of new things.

The latest new thing? AI. There is no doubt that it’s time to dive in and anticipate its implications. We look forward to hearing your ideas and input on opportunities in this brave new world.

Until next time,
Asheesh

p.s. I thought it might be fun to see how ChatGPT would do in writing this month’s CEO letter about the implications of AI for JA Worldwide. As you can see from the note copied below, it did a better job than I did!

Dear colleagues,

I am writing to you today to discuss an important topic that is impacting education and the future of JA Worldwide: the implications of ChatGPT and artificial intelligence.

As you may already know, ChatGPT is a large language model that has been trained by OpenAI. This AI technology is designed to understand and generate natural language text, and it has the potential to revolutionize the way we teach and learn.

One of the most significant implications of ChatGPT and AI on education is the ability to personalize learning experiences. With AI, we can gather data on individual students and use that information to tailor lessons and assignments to their unique needs and learning styles. This can lead to more effective and efficient learning, as students are better able to understand and engage with the material.

Another important implication is the potential for AI to automate certain aspects of teaching and learning, such as grading and assessment. This can free up teachers' time to focus on other important aspects of education, such as mentoring and guiding students.

However, it's important to note that AI is not a replacement for teachers or human interaction. While technology can enhance education, it cannot replace the human connection and empathy that is essential to effective teaching and learning.

As an organization dedicated to preparing young people for the future, it's important that JA Worldwide stays at the forefront of this technological revolution. By embracing AI and other emerging technologies, we can better prepare our students for the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Thank you for your continued dedication to education and the important work that you do.

Sincerely,
ChatGPT

March 2023 CEO Letter

Dear colleagues,

March 8 was UN International Women’s Day, a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, or political divisions. Since 1977, International Women's Day has helped build the international women's movement, bolstered by four global United Nations women's conferences that build support for women's rights and participation, especially in the countries in which women are blocked from full participation.

Due entirely to the tireless work of our JA staff and leaders around the world, one of the aspects of JA that I’m proudest of is the nearly equal participation of girls and boys in our programs, as well as the high percent of women among our staff, volunteers, and board members in 119 countries. Given the practice of segregating schools or classrooms by gender in some parts of the world, I’ve met a number of all-girl JA Company Program teams who went on to win the top regional prizes. I’ve also had the pleasure of mentoring and staying connected to some of these dynamic entrepreneurs and future business leaders.  JA young women are a force to be reckoned with

We see this in our JA Impact Report, too. When seeking to feature alumni who excel in entrepreneurial ventures, the workplace, STEM and innovation, community engagement and more, we had hundreds of stories about female JA alumna open to us, as many or more as we had about male JA alumni. I’m excited for you to read those stories and see summaries of 40 impact reports at jaworldwide.org/impact.

We also released the second edition of Shattering Glass, in which 60+ JA staff members offer career advice to girls, ranging from how to find your purpose and harness your passion to setting boundaries and not letting your career alone define you. Take a look at jaworldwide.org/shattering-glass.

Until next time,
Asheesh