JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF GREATER BIRMINGHAM INC

Stephen was a normal kid, if not a little shy, before his first JA experience in the 11th grade at Hueytown High School. He was exposed to several programs, including JA Be Entrepreneurial, in which he developed an idea for an app business and presented it to a panel of business leaders in his community. He then participated in a JA Company Program, developing a non-profit engaging elementary students in a dropout awareness program. His company won a spot at the JA North American Company of the Year Competition in Washington, D.C., where Stephen and his peers presented the project to national business leaders and members of the U.S. Congress. This year, Stephen is a senior preparing for college. He credits JA with changing his life in a positive way, helping him to come out of his shell, particularly in public speaking. He is now very confident about his future and speaks regularly in front of hundreds of professionals on behalf of Junior Achievement.

Help Junior Achievement create more experiences like Stephen's. Every year, JA of Greater Birmingham serves about 30,000 students across the metro region, but there is always more demand for program in classrooms than can be filled with volunteers and funding. It takes just $735 to support one class of Junior Achievement and only $35 per student. Stephen is proof that the investment is priceless!

Business, education, financial literacy, career readiness, drop out prevention, elementary school, middle school, high school, relevant, mentor, inspire, connect, success, economics, after-school, volunteer, classroom, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Tuscaloosa County, Etowah County, Blount County, Chilton County, St. Clair County, Shelby County, Wilcox County, Mobile County, central Alabama,